IoT is an intrinsic part of our daily life

The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects “individually addressable things” that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of collecting data from the physical world, connecting and exchanging data with other devices, communicating with systems, without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.?

IoT has evolved due to the convergence of multiple technologies: ubiquitous computing, commodity sensors, increasingly powerful embedded systems, machine learning, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, resulting in efficiency improvements, economic benefits, and reduced human exertions.

IoT devices range across ordinary household objects (such as lighting fixtures, thermostats, home security systems, cameras, and other home appliances) that support one or more common ecosystems, and can be controlled via devices associated with that ecosystem, such as smartphones or smart speakers). Our automobiles have dozens of sensors that collect and transfer data to a backend that enables mobile app based owner alerts, automobile operations in addition to the manufacturer being able to monitor, mine the fleet data and proactively lookout for issues and improvements. Smart cities facilitate IoT based citizen convenience services; some countries have implemented a cross country electronic toll collection system that ensures cashless transactions at toll plazas, resulting in a near non-stop movement of traffic and hence, decongesting and streamlining the entire process of toll collection.

IoT in Action

The Fastag RFID technology uses an Electronic Product Code (EPC) through which every vehicle can be uniquely identified. This code is different from the vehicle’s registration number and exclusive to it on a global scale. Each EPC code, which is a 13-digit number, in the RFID-FASTag is issued by GS1 India, a standards body, which ensures that each code is unique and in sync with the global standards put in place, in order for correct product identification. Which in the case of FASTag, is a vehicle. The code is standardized in order to ensure that the data coded inside is not read differently at different levels.

However, unlike barcoding, which uses a pattern of black bars and white spaces, in which the information is coded, an RFID tag uses a small electronic chip for the same which is surrounded by an antenna. Also, unlike the barcode, an RFID tag does not need to be very close to the reader or, even in the line of sight of the same. One just simply has to be within a reading distance from the scanner. A FASTag has what is called a passive RFID chip as it does not contain its own battery. It is energized only when the beam from the scanner strikes it.

The contactless toll collection process :

The Transaction from the Toll Plaza is sent to the acquiring system. The Acquiring System validates these transactions and sends them to NETC Switch. NPCI routes these transactions to the respective Issuer Bank which in turn debits the tag holder account.

1. Whenever a vehicle passes through the electronic toll collection (ETC) lane of a Toll Plaza, the Toll Plaza system captures the FASTag details (Tag ID, TID, Vehicle class, etc.) are sent to the Acquirer for processing.
2. The Acquirer sends a request to the NETC Mapper to validate the tag details.
3. Once the Tag ID is validated, NETC Mapper responds with details like Vehicle class, VRN, Tag Status etc. If the Tag ID is absent in NETC Mapper, it will respond that the Tag ID is not registered.
4. After successful validation of Tag ID from NETC Mapper, the acquirer host calculates the appropriate toll fare and initiates a debit request to the NETC system.
5. NETC System will switch the debit request to the respective issuer bank for debiting the account of the customer.
6. The issuer host shall debit the linked tag holder account and send an SMS alert to the tag holder. The issuer host shall send the response message to the NETC system. If the response is not sent within the defined TAT, the transaction is considered deemed accepted.
7. NETC system will notify the response to the acquirer host.
8. Acquirer hosts will notify the respective toll plaza system.

The four IoT Pillars:

1. The physical device or individually addressable things that senses the physical world. The wide range of applications for IoT technology mean that the device specifics can be very different from one device to the next but there are basic characteristics shared by most.
2. The data of the physical world collected, curated by the device.?
3. The connectivity between the devices, the mode, protocol of communication between devices and the data aggregation point.
4. The process of making collected data useful by turning raw data into actionable insights. The Analytics.

Types of IoT and its applications:

1. Industrial internet of things (IIoT). Refers to the use of IoT in industrial applications.
2. Internet of medical things (IoMT). The use of IoT in medicine.
3. V2X communications (vehicle to everything communications). A vehicle's ability to sense its environment and communicate with it.
4. Internet of battlefield things (IoBT). When IoT is used for military purposes.

Benefits of IoT technology

The internet of things helps enterprises learn in near real-time, learn more about and thereby improve their own internal processes and structure to ultimately provide better products and/or more effective services. IoT increases the number and types of places enterprises can autonomously retrieve data from, providing much more information to work with. It also enables internal systems to become more responsive.

The main benefit of IoT for consumers is convenience and ease of use. The navigation app like Waze, Google Maps, and Apple Maps. Use a combination of cellular and GPS networks, these apps help you get from A to Z! Waze is a great example of IoT. The app continuously collects vehicle position data and sends it to the cloud, where it has position data from all other user vehicles. By computing the relative movement of each vehicle, Waze can determine its speed and identify traffic slowdowns and jams. It can estimate time in traffic, redirect the driver to an alternate route that bypasses obstructions, and recompute the driver's projected arrival time.? Waze accepts driver-submitted data on road hazards, police presence, traffic jams, etc. that it feeds back to all users on that route!

Challenges of IoT technology

Despite its potential, IoT faces several challenges:

1. The rapid pace of IoT development, without appropriate consideration of the profound security challenges involved leads to vulnerability. Most of the technical security concerns are similar to those of conventional servers, workstations and smartphones. However, many IoT devices have severe operational limitations on the computational power available to them. These constraints often make them unable to directly use basic security measures such as implementing firewalls or using strong cryptosystems to encrypt their communications with other devices and the low price and consumer focus of many devices makes a robust security patching system uncommon.
2. Data privacy and regulatory compliance. There are also concerns about the data rights and privacy of consumer data as IoT becomes more prevalent. With more networked devices sharing data autonomously, being accountable for all that data becomes difficult; for example, billboards with hidden cameras that track demographic information of passersby who stop to read it (without their knowledge or consent).
3. Safety. IoT devices especially those used in industrial, medical, transportation, and infrastructure applications are often tasked with jobs that, if performed incorrectly, could put lives at risk. If a smart car's warning system malfunctions, it could cause the driver to neglect an obstacle or pedestrian. A malfunctioning sensor at an industrial plant can be catastrophic if a key warning sign is missed.
4. Interoperability. Many IoT devices have unique or niche protocols or proprietary services that they run on, and can't interact with other devices or services without considerable tweaking.?
5. Environmental impact. Heavy metals used in many IoT devices make it difficult to manufacture, dispose and recycle them without substantial environmental and human costs.?

How does IoT data create value?

IoT isn't a single device, software, or technology. IoT is an amalgam of devices, networks, computing resources, and software tools and stacks.?

Every IoT device is a small dedicated information possessing unit, with an embedded processor, firmware and limited memory and network connectivity. The device collects specific physical data and sends that data out onto an IP network. They are powered by a power source, and rely on wired or wireless networks for connectivity. IoT devices can be configured individually or in groups.

The data gathered by IoT devices must be transmitted over a network which is typically a conventional IP-based network, such as a wired or wireless Ethernet LAN, bluetooth or the public internet. Every IoT device receives a unique IP address or a unique identifier. The device passes its data to the network using the network interface. As with any network device, data packets are marked with a destination IP address where the data is to be routed and delivered. Such network data exchange is identical to the everyday exchange of network data between ordinary computers. The destination for this raw sensor data is typically an intermediary interface, such as an IoT hub or IoT gateway. The IoT gateway usually serves to collect and collate the raw sensor data, often applying early preprocessing tasks, such as normalization and filtering, to IoT data.?

The volume of real-time data produced by an IoT sensor fleet and collated at the IoT gateway must be analyzed to yield deeper insights. The IoT gateway sends its cleaned and secured sensor data across the internet to a back end for processing and analysis. This back end might be located at a corporate data center, a colocation facility, or a computing infrastructure architected in the public cloud. There, the data is stored, processed, modeled, analyzed.

Cyber-physical information framework is created when the above processed near real time data is combined with operational data from ERP, supply chain, customer service and other enterprise systems leading to a whole new level of visibility and insight from previously siloed information. Leading to increased automation, predictive maintenance, self-optimization of process improvements and, above all, drive a new level of efficiency and responsiveness to customers not previously possible.

What are the layers of an IoT architecture?

The scope and detail of an IoT architectural plan is depending on the IoT initiative.

There are four major architectural issues:

1. The physical layer includes IoT devices, the network and computing resources used to process the data. The infrastructure discussion often includes sensor types, quantities, locations, power sources, network interface and configuration and management tools. Networks involve bandwidth and latency considerations to ensure they can handle IoT device demands. The device communication protocols such as Wired LAN, Wireless (Infrared, Bluetooth, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, Zigbee and Low-Power) Area Network. Computing handles the data collation, processing power and tools.
2. The data produced by the internet of things can be sensitive and confidential. Passing such data across open networks can expose devices and data to snooping, theft and hacking. Organizations planning an IoT project must consider the best ways to secure IoT devices and data in flight and at rest. Encryption is a common approach for IoT data security. Additional security must be applied to IoT devices to prevent hacking and malicious changes to device configurations. Security involves various software tools and traditional security devices, such as firewalls and intrusion detection and prevention systems.
3. Integration is getting everything to work together seamlessly, ensuring the devices, infrastructure, and tools added for IoT will interoperate with existing systems and applications such as systems management and ERP already in place in the organization.
4. The very top of an IoT architecture requires a detailed understanding of how IoT data will be analyzed and used. This is the application layer, which often includes the analytical tools, AI and ML modeling and training engines, and visualization or rendering tools.?

IoT examples:

1. Medical. IoT devices can be used for medical data collection, monitoring and analysis. Sometimes referred to as smart healthcare, the internet of medical things aims to create a digitized healthcare system that connects medical resources and healthcare services. Heart rate monitors and pacemakers that monitor a patient's vital functions and can send alerts through an emergency notification system. Advanced hearing aids that adjust their level of sensitivity to suit the user. Fitbits or smartwatches that measure biometrics.
2. Military. The military uses smart technology and IoT to prepare for warfare and to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance. Examples include smart drones, a network of passive sensors at sea to record the presence and activity of military and commercial vessels.
3. Manufacturing. IoT in the industrial and manufacturing sector aids in various sensing, identification, monitoring, process controls for smart manufacturing. For example, digital control systems can automate processes and help optimize plant operations, safety, security and efficiency.
4. Retail. Retailers and distributors use smart packaging with a QR code or NFC tag that contains a unique identifier with digital information about products to enable digital interactions.?
5. Public infrastructure. Transportation. Smart traffic control systems, smart parking systems, electronic toll collection systems and vehicle road assistance help make transportation more efficient.
6. Home and building automation. Smart energy management systems monitor and control various infrastructural components. Smart homes and wearable devices are two common examples of IoT in the consumer market. Such as thermostats, lighting fixtures, cameras, air conditioning, Tv, washing machines, security systems etc which are linked via a home network and may link out to other external networks via the internet. Users often control these devices and systems through smart speakers like Amazon Alexa and Google Home or a smartphone app.
7. Infrastructure monitoring. IoT devices can monitor infrastructure like bridges or railway tracks to detect significant structural changes to improve emergency management and incident response processes.
8. Urban development. Smart cities outfitted with IoT sensors provide citizens with services like environmental monitoring data and parking applications for their smartphones by way of smart meters.
9. Agriculture. IoT is used in farming to monitor and collect agricultural data such as rainfall level, temperature, wind speed, pest infestation and soil content. Farmers can use the insights from IoT devices in their fields to improve the quality of their product and minimize waste.

IoT Projects

IoT projects are unique, and complex. They usually require research, solution design, proof of concept, prototype phases before project initiation and require an operating team with interdisciplinary technical knowledge.?

Future of IoT

IoT is fueled by higher density compute capabilities, reduction in device size, advances in edge compute, integrated artificial intelligence, and the capacity to deploy, automate, orchestrate and secure diverse use cases at hyperscale. The potential is not just in enabling billions of devices simultaneously but leveraging the huge volumes of actionable data which can automate diverse business processes, create new use cases and open entire new streams of revenue.