What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?

What is IoT?

The “Internet of things” or “IoT” is one of the hottest’ Buzzwords’ in I.T. today.  Like most new buzzwords, many people have their own definitions for them. This doesn’t mean that they have any idea what these words mean.

Remember the early days of Cloud?

 The purpose of this article is to summarize what IoT is. This way, you will have something interesting to contribute to your next networking event.

In this article, we will

• Answer “What is IoT?”
• Give examples of both commercial and consumer applications
• Describe many IoT technologies that are in place today

The Internet of People vs. the Internet of Things

Before discussing the internet of things, you first need to discuss the ‘Internet of People’. The internet of people is simply plain old internet. This is where human beings use the internet to complete specific tasks. 

Let’s say you check the weather through a search engine. As a result, you find that the weather will be cold tonight. You walk over and turn up your thermostat.  By doing this, you have used the internet to gather and interpret data.

The Internet of Things repeats the same process. Only instead of humans interacting with the internet, the internet is accessed by machines.

Suppose you instruct the smart thermostat in your home to monitor the local weather. As a result, the thermostat will adjust the temp based on your preference. You now have IoT in your home.

Common Applications of IoT

Consumer Applications

The typical consumer uses for IoT are marketed ‘Smart Home’ products.  Some examples are…

• Ring Video doorbells
• Nest Thermostats
• Smart locks and door open/close
• Smart Watches and other ‘Wearables’

When you ask Alexa or Google a question, a machine performs a search on your behalf.  Only instead of typing, you use words.

Popular tools like smart sprinkler systems can access the internet to check the weather. As a result, they can control if your sprinklers are deactivated when rain is on the way.

More and more Smart Home products are making their way to the market. The applications are growing with no end in sight.

Commercial Applications

Commercial IoT is relatively new but is gearing up to change business.  These products range from supply chain management to agriculture.

Commercial applications of IoT focus on the delivery of data from sensors.  The sensors collect data like moisture, temperature, or weight. This data is then processed in real-time.  As a result, there is less need for humans to check these items manually.

The applications are endless, but here are some popular ways that IoT is leveraged today.

• Agriculture – Smart Farming sensors can detect light, temperature, and soil moisture. As a result, it ensures optimal crop health.
• Supply Chain – IoT sensors locate goods in warehouses & measure temperature & moisture. As a result, warehouses have better visibility of their stock.
• Healthcare –The latest IoT devices have changed the patient experience by reading data like blood glucose levels in people with diabetes. This provides a better patient experience.

Popular IoT Connection Methods

IoT sensors are measured on 3 key metrics. 

1. Range – The distance the data has to travel
2. Bandwidth – The size of the data packets needed
3. Power – The amount of energy required to send the data

These factors rate on a scale of (1-5), where five is the most beneficial.  Therefore a power rating of 5 means that it uses the least amount of power.

Wi-Fi

Ratings – Range 2, Bandwidth 5, Power 1

Wi-Fi is by far the most common wireless technology in place today. The key benefit of Wi-Fi is that it can carry high amounts of bandwidth data over relatively long distances. As a result, Wi-Fi can send data packets up to 100 meters at speeds up to 1.3 Gbps. 

The downside of Wi-Fi is power consumption.  Even in mobile devices, Wi-Fi consumes a fair amount of power. As a result, Wif is not practical for applications where electricity is scarce. It also has challenges if sensors need to be placed in hard to reach places like in hazardous areas or underground.

Another downside is security.  Since Wi-Fi devices have I.P. addresses, they are more susceptible to attack.  As a result, hackers have been able to access network servers through Wi-Fi enabled smart devices.

Zigbee

Ratings – Range 2, Bandwidth 3, Power 3

Zigbee is a popular wireless technology used in consumer-grade products. It is found under the IEEE 802.15.4. It transmits at lower data speeds of up to 250kbit. Zigbee has a range of 100 meters via line-of-sight. This can be increased by using a mesh network of devices. 

Zigbee’s main benefit is the lower power consumption. It boasts batteries that can last up to 2 years.  As a result, this makes it the go-to technology for commercial applications. This makes it ideal for industries like Medical & Building automation.

LTE (LTE-M & NB-IoT)

Ratings – Range 5, Bandwidth 3, Power 5

Various technologies utilize 4G LTE networks.  Two up and coming technologies are LTE-M and Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT). 

The benefit of this technology is that they cover much greater distances. It can also monitor roaming assets.  One downside is that performance is hindered when sensors are inside larger commercial buildings. 

Another downside is that each sensor operates on an individual data plan. As a result, it increases costs.  Constant transmissions to the carrier network will shorten battery life. 

LoRaWAN

Ratings – Range 5, Bandwidth 2, Power 5

Long Range WAN or LoRa WAN, is an up and coming technology in IoT.  It’s growing popularity is due to its far transmission distances.  LoRa WAN can transmit line-of-site distances of up to 80 miles. It can also transmit data rates up to 22 kbps.   

LoRa WAN transmits at a very low 915 MHz radiofrequency. As a result of this, it penetrates concrete floors in commercial buildings.  Where Zigbee covers a home it stops at the mailbox, LoRaWAN will cover a Home Depot and the surrounding parking lot.   

The main cost benefit is that LoRa WAN uses gateway devices that connect to wired internet connections.  As a result, sensors will then send their data to the gateways. This eliminates the need for costly data plans.  Additionally, sensor battery life typically exceeds five years.

Conclusion

Even though IoT is still in its infancy, it’s easy to see how this emerging technology impacts our lives.  The innovations are limitless and span many different industries.

In the coming years, this ‘Buzzword’ is likely to be common knowledge for all of us in I.T.