WHAT IS IOT?

IOT stands for internet of things. It is a system of interlinked digital machines, computing devices and mechanical machines. The thing of IOT can be a vehicle with built-in sensors or a human with a heart monitor implant. At the present time, many organizations are making use of IOT to work in an efficient manner. IOT helps these organizations in different ways to understand their customers’ demands. In this way, they become capable to provide excellent customer service. Moreover, it improves decision-making as well as maximizes the business value.

When did the internet of things start?

Many people do not know the history of IOT and who coined the term internet of things if you are one of those then no problem! We are going to tell you about the history of IOT.

The co-founder of the Auto-ID Center at MIT was Kevin Ashton. He first took the name of the internet of things in a presentation in 1999. He wanted to grab the attention of the Procter & Gamble senior management. Ashton named his presentation the “INTERNET OF THINGS” to involve the latest trend of 1999. Ashton was the first person who has stated the internet of things. However, the concept of interlinked devices has been around for decades.

IOT changed from machine to machine communication. It simply means that the machines linked to one another through a network without any interaction of humans. This communication involves connecting a device to the cloud, handling it, and gathering information.

Taking this machine to machine communication to a higher level, the internet of things is including network sensors. Due to this reason, the devices are becoming smarter. These devices do not just connect systems but humans and apps. Nevertheless, the base of this network sensor is a machine to machine communication.

When it comes to the IOT ecosystem, then it was not evolved until 2010. After that, the China government stated that it would work on the IOT for five years to create new smart items.

•    Internet of things basics

The internet of things basics is the interconnectivity of the devices which gather information and exchange it via embedded sensors or software. Internet of things is able to make all things smart so that our life becomes easy.

•    What is IOT platform?

The IOT platform is a multi-function technological innovation. It allows automation, handling, and provisioning of the linked devices within the IOT world. It connects your hardware to the cloud by using the flexible connectivity choices and company-grade safety machines. The platform of IOT offers the developers a collection of amazing features. These features boost up the development speed of apps for the interrelated devices.

•    What is IOT devices?

When it comes to the IOT devices, then there are several things. The internet of things cannot only collect and exchange information, yet they can do many other things. With the help of latest technology, these devices are able to do much more than their predecessors. Many companies are launching new IOT devices in the market each year. Some of the latest yet small IOT devices are mentioned below:

·         Wireless Home Energy Monitors

·         Smart Door Locks

·         Smart Home Retrofit

·         Smart Bike Locks & Trackers

·         Smart Bluetooth Trackers

·         Smart Thermostats

·         Smart Irrigation Controllers

·         Smart Plugs

·         Wireless Smart Vents

•    How does IOT work?

The IOT ecosystem includes web-aided smart devices. It is not imperative that the IOT device should connect with only IOT device. So, the IOT devices can connect with the other relevant devices and work on the data they get from each other. Moreover, no human interaction is important for the working of IOT. Nevertheless, humans can interrelate with these devices like they can provide info, access, and process it.

The protocols of networking and connectivity utilized with the internet devices contingent upon the particular IOT apps installed.

•    Importance of internet of things

The internet of things is of great importance. They can smoothly fit in our lives to make it simple and easy. It has to offer a lot of advantages. Some of the advantages of IOT are specified below:

Ø  Adapt the business models and integrate them

Ø  Improves the experience of customers

Ø  They manage and handle all business processes in an efficient manner

Ø  Increases the productivity of the employees

Ø  Saves money and time

Ø  Improves decision-making to increase revenue

In short, the internet of things encourages organizations to re-think the methods through which they handle their factories and industries. Moreover, it has to offer tools and techniques that can improve the strategies of the businesses.

Internet of technology

The internet of technology has been in the making for a long period. The machine to machine communication was considered a thing for many years. In the 20th century, the things started from telemetric systems that were able to transfer encoded readings from different ways. These ways include radio waves, satellite communications, and phone lines.

The IOT might be one of the understood technological innovation buzzwords of the previous decade. However, the promotional term Internet of Everything has confused many people. Internet of Everything is different from the internet of things. It is a bit synonymous with the IOT. The IOT is the connection of the physical with the digital. The physical devices could be improved with calculating, sensing, and communication abilities. These improved devices are able to communicate with the digital world. They can produce information and insights that were not possible in previous decades.

Internet of things Components

Internet of things is an advanced process of linking up to the smart objects and devices to the network to perform certain tasks efficiently. However, you might not be aware of its components. When it comes to its main components than the sensors and devices designed for IOT are considered as the internet of things components. These sensors and devices make use of smart technology to collect information from an environment. Also, they share this data to the other layer of the environment.

Advanced methods in semiconductor technological innovation are good enough to produce micro smart sensors for different uses. The typical sensors are listed below:

o   Proximity detection

o   Pressure sensors

o   Temperature sensors like Thermostats

o   Light intensity detectors

o   Moisture/humidity level

o   Moisture sensors

o   RFID tags

Characteristics of Internet Of Things

It is easy to know about the internet of things by just having a glance at the characteristics. There are seven essential characteristics of Internet Of Things. All of them are explained below:

1)      Things – All the things that are easy to connect. From the household appliances to the sensors devices, all things are considered as IOT. They can contain sensing materials that are connectable with different items.

2)      Connectivity – There is no need to explain this characteristic too much. The sensors and devices that have to be linked: with an item, process, or network.

3)      Data – The data is basically the adhesive of the IOT. It is the first step towards intelligence and execution.

4)      Intelligence – The IOT devices are intelligent enough to collect information and share it. Moreover, they are based on sensing capacities.

5)      Communication – The devices get linked so they can gather the data, and this data could be investigated.

6)      Ecosystem – The place of IOT from the view of other technological innovations, goals, and communities in which the IOT fits. It might include the internet of everything, need for the strong partnerships and aspect of the platform.

7)      Action – intelligence importance. The action can be manual or automation.

IOT Applications And Development

IOT has a number of uses and applications. At the present time, the IOT is developing in speed due to which the uses and applications are also increasing.

Now, we are going to point out some of the latest applications generated by the IOT development. Have a look:

1)    Wearable

The wearable is one of the latest applications of IOT. It is a hot topic when it comes to the uses of IOT. Each year, a number of customers from around the world are waiting for the launch of smart watches and glasses. Other types of wearable devices are also present that is beneficial for everyone. These devices include LookSee bracelet, Sony Smart B Trainer, and Myo gesture control.

2)    Smart Home

Whenever we consider the systems of the internet of things, the important and effective application that stands apart is the Smart Home. This use is popular because of its various characteristics. Many people from all over the globe are looking out for smart homes. The best thing about these smart homes is that their database incorporates the IOT Analytics of 256 organizations. Different organizations are going to involve in these homes as compared to the other IOT applications. Each smart home startups amount is going to increase up to 2.5 billion dollars in 2019. According to the experts, it will go up to 20 billion dollars till 2025. The startup's list incorporates famous startup company names like NEST, ALERTME, BELKIN, HAIER, PHILIPS, and so forth.

3)    Smart City

The smart city is similar to the smart home. Nonetheless, it is quite a big technological innovation. It spans a range of usage conditions, from waste management to water distribution, from traffic management to urban security. It is famous because it tries to remove the issues and discomfort of people who reside in the city. The Smart City space has IOT solutions that solve a number of problems related to the city. These solutions include reduction of noise pollution, proper traffic monitoring, and reducing air pollution. In this manner, the city becomes safe and clean.

4)    Industrial Internet

One way to consider industrial internet is, as linking up to the devices and machines in industries like healthcare, oil, gas, and power generation. It can be used in the number of conditions where the unintended interruption and system failures could result in life-staking conditions. A system surrounded with the IOT tends to incorporate devices like smart home electronic devices or health bands for heart monitoring. Each system is useful and functional. It can offer ease of use. Nevertheless, it is not dependable because it is not able to handle any emergency condition if an interruption occurs.

5)    Smart Grids

The smart grid is another useful application of IOT, which is able to stand out. It promises to collect data on customer behavior and electricity suppliers in an automated fashion. It is able to improve the economics, productivity, and dependability of the power distribution. Around 50,000 people search it on Google each month. So, you can quickly come to know about its popularity and usability.

6)    Connected Car

The connected car is an excellent application of IOT. In a short period, this car will be able to overcome the international auto market. It has a big network of different antennas, sensors and technologies. This fantastic car helps in decision making with speed and accuracy. It is a dependable vehicle for sure.

Techniques Used By IOT Devices

IOT devices make use of a number of techniques to collect and share the information. However, the majority might use wireless connectivity. Offices and homes use wireless technologies like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The other devices utilize satellite connections for communication.

One part of the development in the upcoming years will be the usage of 5G networks to upkeep the IOT projects. With the help of 5G technique, the 5G IOT devices will be able to work in a small and large space. The UK has begun the trial of 5G and the IOT at two smart factories.

As IOT is developing with time, the price and demand of the IOT devices is also increasing. To keep the prices to the minimum, it is essential to make use of many other new techniques. Moreover, it is significant to work on previous technologies like edge computing.

Technologies Involved in IOT

The IOT demands a number of new skills and technological innovation. Nevertheless, many organizations are not able to master these skills and technological innovations. The Vice President of Gartner Nick Jones stated that the periodic subject in the IOT space is the negligence of the services of the retailers. It will be a big challenge for the companies to overcome this negligence and handle the risks proficiently to exploit the IOT. In diverse technological innovation areas, many people do not have skills which pose a number of challenges.

The principles and technological innovations of IOT will have an impact on the companies. They will affect the risk management and business strategies of each organization, particularly in the technical areas like network and architecture. Jones has said that there will be a total of ten IOT technologies. We have mentioned them below:

1.     IOT Analytics – IOT models of business will exploit the data gathered by the things in diverse methods. It will demand new algorithms, techniques, and tools.

2.     IOT Security – The security technologies will be needed to secure the IOT devices from physical tampering as well as data attacks. They are also required to tackle the new challenges. Some of these challenges include sleep attacks that drain the power of the batteries. The IOT security is pretty complicated as a number of things utilize the operating systems and processors that might not support the protection methods.

3.     Short Range Plus Low Power IOT Networks – The short range and low power networks will overcome the IOT wireless connectivity till 2025. Nevertheless, the technical and commercial trade-offs imply that diverse IOT solutions will exist with no dominating winner.

4.   IOT Device Management – The things will need proper monitoring, handling, and management. It is imperative to manage the device and update its software. In this way, the device saves from crashing. The tools should be able to monitor and handle trillions of devices.

5.    Wide Area Plus Low Power Network – Typical mobile networks do not provide a remarkable combination of effective cost and functional features for IOT applications. However, these are the specific applications that require a wide-area network linked with fantastic battery life, low bandwidth, and operational cost.

6.    IOT Processors – The IOT devices processors define a lot of their capacities. For instance, they have the capacity for durable protection, power consumption, as well as encryption. They are good at supporting the firmware and operating systems. Understanding the processor implications options will increase the demand for technological skills.

7.    Event Stream Processing – There are a couple of IOT applications that generate high data rates. It is imperative to analyze these data rates in real time. The systems making hundreds of thousands of events in a single second are quite common. Even in just a second, it is possible that millions of events occur in particular conditions. To handle such needs and wants, shared stream computing platforms have such technology which enables them to process high rate data streams in real time. Moreover, they have the ability to perform difficult tasks like pattern identification.

8.     IOT Standards – The standards and APIs are important as IOT devices will require them to communicate and connect. There are a number of IOT models of business that depend on sharing information among different devices and companies. A lot of ecosystems will appear, and the companies creating items might need to develop the variants to support different standards and ecosystems. They are ready to update the things throughout their life span.

9.    IOT platforms – IOT platforms package a number of infrastructure components of the internet of things system into a particular item. The services offered by these platforms have three different kinds. They are specified below:

•         IOT information management, transformation as well as acquisition.

•         The development of IOT application, incorporating application programming, event-driven logic, analytics, visualization, and adapters to link to the enterprise systems.

•         The low-level device operations and control like security, firmware updates, management, and monitoring of the device.

10.  IOT Operating Systems – The typical operating systems like iOS and Windows are not planned for IOT applications. These operating systems consume a lot of power and require fast processors. In a couple of cases, they lack some essential features like a real-time response. These operating systems are not able to support the chips that IOT developers utilize. Moreover, they have a big memory footprint for tiny devices. Accordingly, the wide variety of IOT OS has been designed and created to suit a number of hardware footprints.

Future of IOT

With the progression of time, the IOT devices are becoming an imperative part of electronic culture. A lot of people are inclined towards the smart devices, either it is a smart home or wearable device. By 2025, we project that there will be more than 30 billion IOT devices present in the market. These devices will become a big part of how we communicate daily with diverse objects.

Within one year, the IOT devices linked to the internet went from millions to billions. The future of IOT is going to be bright. The developers are working on different IOT concepts to launch new devices and make the previous devices smarter. They are making use of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to produce high-quality and efficient appliances.

To demonstrate that the internet of things is taking off quickly; Target has established a store in San Francisco. This store only sells different types of the internet of things devices. Nowadays, there is going to be big money involved in the IOT space. It will continue to increase with the development of technology.

The more IOT devices will collect data and information, the more they will be smarter. In the upcoming years, the cities will transform into smart cities, and the homes will transform into smart homes. It will happen all because of the IOT connected devices. The smart traffic lights will work accordingly to ensure smooth traffic. On the other hand, pollution control devices will monitor and reduce air and noise pollution.

By putting it plainly, it will improve the overall effectiveness of the cities and save the government a lot of money because everything will be handled remotely. The thermostats, coffee-makers, and other items will gather information on your patterns of usage. All this information will be imperative to assist machine learning.