IoT under the magnifying glass

IoT as you may have already heard and read the term refers to the connection of devices (other than typical fare such as computers and smartphones) to the Internet. Cars, kitchen appliances, and even heart monitors can all be connected through the IoT. And as the Internet of Things grows in the next few years, more devices will join that list.

Let's just dig a bit deeper how is it going to change and shape our future...

IoT represents an architectural shift

IoT is changing the computer hardware model that we’ve had for the past 30 or 40 years. Consider all the different phases of hardware models that have existed; green screen, to mini-computer, to PC, to cloud and mobile. The computer architecture has been consistent; Client and Server. 

What's changed over the years are the clients. For IoT, however, there is actually a third hardware layer which breaks the traditional client-server model. Developers and architects are used to building software systems across two physical tiers. But with clients that aren’t traditional web clients, there’s a new notion of a third tier. This is an emerging notion, spearheaded by research at Princeton University, this layer is called the Fog Layer or the Edge Layer. It is responsible for being the first line of connectivity for these devices to connect to before they go to the back-end systems, the server. The reason why this layer is required is the sheer number of connected devices and the differences in network quality.

Let’s demonstrate the Edge Layer in a connected building example. In a modern connected building, the light bulbs and the air conditioning, climate control, blinds and other infrastructure are all running through connected devices. Let’s say the building has fifty thousand connected light bulbs. Each bulb pings its status information every 10 seconds plus any state change. That is a lot of repetitive data being generated. 

That amount of data exchange is not very efficient to send directly to the cloud, particularly if the building owner is paying for bandwidth. The role of the Edge Layer is actually to sit close to the physical location of the sensors and the devices and collect information from those devices and then collate that into more valuable data sets.

The new Edge Layer

The Edge Layer is responsible for connecting devices locally, and manages the data collection and connection to the server. The benefits of this approach are:

• First pass data filtering reduces the amount of data transmitted but retains the meaning of the data

• Device connectivity doesn’t fail if the network fails, or there is an intermittent connection. The Edge Layer is responsible for handling outages and store and forward of data.

• Enables site level orchestration across devices from different vendors using different protocols

• Site abstraction allowing server/cloud application to be agnostic to the device implementation it controls

The Edge layer has three main components in a typical IoT deployment.

1. The device or sensor itself. In IoT this is the client that generates data and/or receives commands to execute.

2. Most devices will connect to a gateway that enables access to the internet or private network. Typically these gateways speak a proprietary protocol between the connected devices and then allow connectivity through the gateway using a standard protocol such as HTTP.

3. The Edge Controller is responsible for connecting to all the gateways and independent devices in a physical location. The Edge control collected and collates data from all the devices, transmits data and accepts commands from the server to execute across some or all the devices.

The server layer is similar to what we already see in other client-server architectures such as mobile.

• API Layer is leveraged by IoT architecture to connect to the server layer. This provides consistency, control, governance, security and an analytics-based model for connecting external sites. 

• Device Management is responsible for knowing what devices are within the IoT network and sometimes is part of the authentication chain. Device management is also responsible for upgrading software on the Edge controller and possibly the gateways too.

• Data Plane provides the event streaming, transformation orchestration, and connectivity to the applications and systems that at can use the data coming from the Edge layer.

• SaaS applications, Enterprise applications, Big data and BI are typically the consumers of the data coming from the Edge Layer to make the data actionable through analytics, dashboards, and application processing.

The Edge Layer is critically important for network reliability. The IoT Architecture is separated by network boundaries, so at the device side it could be Bluetooth, Zigbee, ZWave between the device and gateway then more common or standard protocols at the Edge Controller. Then between the Edge Layer and the edge and the server layer there is usually a private network IP network or 3G or public internet. Now typically in most IoT applications, security constraints are actually defined by these network boundaries to control access and monitor.

What happens when network connectivity is lost to the server layer? The edge controller serves as the point of contact for devices and gateways so they can keep operating without connectivity to the server layer over the network. 

Terms in IoT

Below, we've provided a glossary defining the Internet of Things:

• Internet of Things: A network of internet-connected objects able to collect and exchange data using embedded sensors.

• Internet of Things device: Any stand-alone internet-connected device that can be monitored and/or controlled from a remote location.

• Internet of Things ecosystem: All the components that enable businesses, governments, and consumers to connect to their IoT devices, including remotes, dashboards, networks, gateways, analytics, data storage, and security.

• Entity: Includes businesses, governments, and consumers.

• Physical layer: The hardware that makes an IoT device, including sensors and networking gear.

• Network layer: Responsible for transmitting the data collected by the physical layer to different devices.

• Application layer: This includes the protocols and interfaces that devices use to identify and communicate with each other.

• Remotes: Enable entities that utilize IoT devices to connect with and control them using a dashboard, such as a mobile application. They include smartphones, tablets, PCs, smartwatches, connected TVs, and nontraditional remotes.

• Dashboard: Displays information about the IoT ecosystem to users and enables them to control their IoT ecosystem. It is generally housed on a remote.

• Analytics: Software systems that analyze the data generated by IoT devices. The analysis can be used for a variety of scenarios, such as predictive maintenance.

• Data storage: Where data from IoT devices is stored.

• Networks: The internet communication layer that enables the entity to communicate with their device, and sometimes enables devices to communicate with each other.

IoT Predictions, Trends, and Market

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, expects there will be more than 24 billion IoT devices on Earth by 2020. That's approximately four devices for every human being on the planet.

And as we approach that point, $6 billion will flow into IoT solutions, including application development, device hardware, system integration, data storage, security, and connectivity. But that will be money well spent, as those investments will generate $13 trillion by 2025.

Who will reap these benefits? There are three major entities that will use IoT ecosystems: consumers, governments, and businesses. 

IoT Industries

Several environments within the three groups of consumers, governments, and ecosystems will benefit from the IoT. These include:

• Manufacturing
• Transportation
• Defense
• Agriculture
• Infrastructure
• Retail
• Logistics
• Banks
• Oil, gas, and mining
• Insurance
• Connected Home
• Food Services
• Utilities
• Hospitality
• Healthcare
• Smart Buildings

IoT Companies

There are literally hundreds of companies linked to the Internet of Things, and the list should only expand in the coming years. Here are some of the major players that have stood out in the IoT to this point:

• Honeywell (HON)
• Hitachi
• T-Mobile (TMUS)
• Comcast (CMCSA)
• GE (GE)
• AT&T (T)
• Cisco (CSCO)
• IBM (IBM)
• Amazon (AMZN)
• Skyworks (SWKS)
• Apple (AAPL)
• Sierra Wireless (SWIR)
• Google (GOOGL)
• Iridium Communications (IRDM)
• Ambarella (AMBA)
• ARM Holdings (ARMH)
• Texas Instruments (TXN)
• PTC (PTC)
• Fitbit (FIT)
• ORBCOMM (ORBC)
• Garmin (GRMN)
• Blackrock (BLK)
• InvenSense (INVN)
• Microsoft (MSFT)
• Control4 (CTRL)
• Silicon Laboratories (SLAB)
• CalAmp (CAMP)
• LogMeIn (LOGM)
• InterDigital (IDCC)
• Ruckus Wireless (RKUS)
• Linear Technology (LLTC)
• Red Hat (RHT)
• Nimble Storage (NMBL)
• Silver Spring Networks (SSNI)
• Zebra Technologies (ZBRA)
• Arrow Electronics (ARW)

IoT Platforms

One IoT device connects to another to transmit information using Internet transfer protocols. IoT platforms serve as the bridge between the devices' sensors and the data networks.

The following are some of the top IoT platforms on the market today:

• Amazon Web Services

• Microsoft Azure

• ThingWorx IoT Platform

• IBM's Watson

• Cisco IoT Cloud Connect

• Salesforce IoT Cloud

• Oracle Integrated Cloud

• GE Predix

IoT Security & Privacy

As devices become more connected thanks to the IoT, security and privacy have become the primary concern among consumers and businesses. In fact, the protection of sensitive data ranked as the top concern (at 36% of those polled) among enterprises, according to the 2016 Vormetric Data Threat Report.

Cyber attacks are also a growing threat as more connected devices pop up around the globe. Hackers could penetrate connected cars, critical infrastructure, and even people's homes. As a result, several tech companies are focusing on cyber security in order to secure the privacy and safety of all this data.

Summary : 

Do let me know what are your thoughts on how our future is going to change with this technology where every device will be connected to the net, it sends chills down my spine, it is going to be definitely cool.