Unit-1

Introduction to
Internet of Things

Dr. Chandrashekar Jatoth

Assistant Rajkot
Darshan Institute of Engineering & Technology, Professor
NIT Raipur
Introduction to Internet of Things (IoT)
 First of all we should discuss about the name “IoT – Internet of Things” in detail.

 So we have to discuss about the first word “Internet” and then everything
about the “Things”.
Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 2
Introduction to Internet of Things (IoT)
 What is Internet?

 In simple word, it’s a Network

of Networks or Interconnected
LANs.
 So here we have to discuss
about the Network, and we
already learned everything
about network in the last
semester, Right?
 What is Network?, Requirement
for networking

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 3

Introduction to Internet of Things (IoT)
 Nowadays The term Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerged the popular terms.
 There are multiple ways to define IoT, but the basic of all the definitions remains the same.
 IoT is network of interconnected computing devices which are embedded in everyday
objects, enabling them to send and receive data.
 The IoT is not just limited
to the connected or
networked devices, but in
a broad way IoT devices
exchange meaningful
information from one
device to another to get
desire result.

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 4

Introduction to Internet of Things (IoT)
 IoT is not a single technology, it’s a combination of technologies and domain knowledge.
 As a result, engineers from different domains have to work together for building a complete
IoT product.

 Life would be governed entirely by Internet and IoT in the near future.
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Application areas of IoT
 The scope and application areas of IoT is very huge.
 IoT can be used to build applications for…
 Agriculture
 Assets Tracking
 Energy Sector
 Defense
 Embedded Applications
 Education
 Waste Management
 Healthcare Products
 Telemedicine
 Safety And Security Sector
 Smart City Applications etc.

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 6

Characteristics of IoT
 Connectivity:
 Connectivity is an important and first
requirement of IoT infrastructure.
 Every Things in IoT should be connected to
the IoT infrastructure.
 Connectivity should be guaranteed at
anywhere and anytime.

 Identity:
 Each IoT device has a unique identity (e.g.,
an IP address).
 This identity is helpful in communication,
tracking and to know status of the things.

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Characteristics of IoT
 Intelligence:
 Just data collection is not enough in IoT, extraction of
knowledge from the generated data is very important.
 For example, sensors generate data, but that data will
only be useful if it is interpreted properly.
 So intelligence is one of the key characteristics in IoT.

 Scalability:
 The number of elements (devices) connected to IoT
zone is increasing day by day.
 Therefore, an IoT setup should be capable of handling
the expansion.
 It can be either expand capability in terms of
processing power, Storage, etc as vertical scaling or
horizontal scaling by multiplying with easy cloning

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Characteristics of IoT
 Dynamic and self-adapting
(complexity):
 IoT devices should dynamically
adapt themselves to the changing
surroundings.
 For example surveillance camera. It
should be flexible to work in
different weather conditions and
different light situations (morning,
afternoon, or night).
 Architecture:
 IoT architecture is yet not uniformed
and standardized.
 It should be hybrid, supporting
different manufacturer’s products to
function in the IoT network.

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 9

Characteristics of IoT

 Safety:
 Sensitive personal details of
a user might be
compromised when the
devices are connected to
the Internet.
 So data security is a major
challenge.
 This could cause a loss to
the user.
 Equipment in the huge IoT
network may also be at risk.
 Therefore, equipment safety
is also critical.

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Things in IoT
 In the IoT, things refer to a variety of devices. It
can be anything even humans in it become a
thing.
 For something to qualify as a “thing”, it requires
identity of its existence.
 The “thing” in a network can be
monitored/measure. For example, a
temperature sensor could be a thing.
 Things are capable of exchanging data with
other connected devices in the system.
 The data could be stored in a centralized server
(or cloud), processed there and a control action
could be initiated.
 The devices having all the above characteristics
are known as things.
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Things in IoT
 Some of the famous “things” are
temperature sensors, pressure
sensors, humidity sensors, etc.
 The data from these sensors are
collected and sent it to the cloud or
stored it in local server for data
analysis.
 Based on the data analysis, the control
action would be taken.
 For example, switching off the water
heater remotely when the water is
heated as per requirement.

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Things in IoT
 Not just sensors, the following can also be called as things:
 Industrial motors
 Wearables (e.g., watch)
 Vehicles
 Shoes
 Heart monitoring implants (e.g.,
pacemaker, ECG real-time
tracking)
 Biochip transponders (for animals
in farms)
 Automobiles with built-in sensors
(automobile feature real-time
monitoring)
 Food/perishables quality
measuring

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 13

Things in IoT

 In IoT-based home automation, the

“things” could be the following
 Lighting control and automation devices
 Ventilation devices
 Air conditioning [heating, ventilation and air
conditioning (HVAC)] systems
 Appliances such as washer/dryer
 Air purifiers
 Ovens or refrigerators/freezers that use Wi-
Fi for remote monitoring
 Security cameras
 Smart phones

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IoT Stack
 Like other digital technology IoT has stack layers.

 Following are the identified seven layers in IoT

stack. Layer 7 Application Layer
 Layer 1 (Physical or Sensor Layer) Layer 6 User Experience Layer

IoT Protocol Stack Layers

 Layer 2 (Processing and Control Action layer)
 Layer 3 (Hardware Interface Layer) Layer 5 Session/Message Layer
 Layer 4 (RF Layer)
Layer 4 RF Layer
 Layer 5 (Session/Message Layer)
 Layer 6 (User Experience Layer) Layer 3 Hardware Interface Layer
 Layer 7 (Application Layer) Processing and
Layer 2
Control Action Layer
Layer 1 Physical or Sensor Layer

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IoT Stack - Layer 1 (Physical or Sensor Layer)
 This layer is concerned about the physical
components, which mainly includes sensors.
 In this layer, the sensors are the core component.
 Temperature sensor, pressure sensor, humidity sensor,
etc. can all be referred as physical layer components.
 In industrial automation, PLC, actuator, etc. are
considered as physical layer components.
 This layer is responsible for data collection and action
execution.
 Selection of sensors is important and choosing an
appropriate sensor is the challenge in this layer.
 Action execution, sensing and data collection happens
here.

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IoT Stack - Layer 2 (Processing and Control Action Layer)
 This important layer contains core
components of IoT system.
 The microcontrollers or processors are
found in this layer.
 The data is received by the
microcontrollers from the sensors.
 A variety of development kits are available
in the market; like Arduino, Raspberry Pi,
Node MCU, PIC, ARM development boards,
etc.
 Microcontroller/Processor and operating
system play vital role at this layer
 Data collected from the sensors is
processed in this layer.

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IoT Stack - Layer 3 (Hardware Interface Layer)

 The 3rd layer in the stack is the

Hardware Interface Layer.
 Hardware components and
communication standards such as
RS232, CAN, SPI, SCI, I 2C, etc. occupy
this layer.
 All these components ensure flawless
communication
 Handshake happens here.

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IoT Stack - Layer 4 (RF Layer)
 Whenever one talks about IoT, RF is discussed and
comes in picture.
 It plays a major role in the communication channel
– whether it is short range or long range.
 Protocols used for communication and transport
of data based on RF are listed in this layer.
 Some famous and common protocols are Wi-Fi,
NFC, RFID, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc.
 RF layer does communication of data using radio
frequency based Electromagnetic (EM) waves
 This layer can also include Li-Fi; which are
effective alternates for RF protocols.

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IoT Stack - Layer 5 (Session/Message Layer)

 Like computer network session

management is also important in IoT.
 There are many protocols which
manage how messages or data are
broadcasted to the cloud.
 Layer 5 (session layer) deals with the
various messaging protocols as
MQTT, CoAP, etc. and also other
protocols such as SSH and FTP.

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IoT Stack - Layer 6 (User Experience Layer)
 This layer deals with providing best
experience to the end users of IoT
products.
 The 6th layer takes care of rich UI designs
with lots of features, which provide a
pleasing experience while using the
service/system or product.
 Object-oriented programming languages,
scripting languages, analytics tools, etc.
all should be included in this layer.
 This is also known as User Experience
and Visualization Layer.

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IoT Stack - Layer 7 (Application Layer)
 Everything comes to perfection at this
layer.
 This layer utilizes the rest six layers in
order to develop desired application.
 It can range from a simple automation
application to smart city application.
 After learning about the layers, it is now
easier to relate them with an application,
for example, vegetable quality monitoring
during transport from source to the
destination using IoT.

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Enabling Technologies
 IoT is a collection or group of many technologies
and devices.
 The simplest of sensors, embedded systems,
data analytics, communication protocols,
security aspects and cloud computing with
storage have all become enabling technologies.
 Enabling technologies/devices fall under one of
the following categories:
 Technologies that help in acquiring/sensing data.
 Technologies that help in analyzing/processing data.
 Technologies that help in taking control action.
 Technologies that help in enhancing
security/privacy.
 Let’s discuss some of the enabling technologies.

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Enabling Technologies - Sensors
 Sensors are at the heart of any IoT
application.
 As the name suggests, they sense the
environment and retrieve data.
 Sensors are the starting point of any
IoT application.
 It fetches data for us to operate on.
 Sensors could be analog or digital.
 Temperature sensor in a thermometer
is an example of it. It is used to build
temperature monitoring application.

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Enabling Technologies - Sensors
 Some examples of sensors that could be
regarded as enabling technologies are as
follows.
 Weather tracking system uses
temperature/humidity/moisture sensors.
 Vehicle health monitoring sensors keep track
of speed, tyre pressure, etc.
 On Board Diagnostics (OBDs) used for
collecting all critical information from an
automobile to detect error.
 Vibration sensors are used to track the quality
of buildings/structures.
 Water quality is monitored through sensors
that measure PH, chloride level, etc.
 PIR sensor is used in pedestrian signal
operation with human presence detection.

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Enabling Technologies - Cloud Computing
 The next technology that is highly significant in IoT is
cloud computing.
 Cloud has grown much more popular because it serves
as an affordable, effective and efficient medium for data
storage.
 Data storage plays a major role in IoT.
 Cloud services are categorized as follows:
 IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service):
 In this cloud service, one can choose virtual machines over
physical machines.
 It is a form of cloud computing that provides virtualized
computing resources over the Internet.
 The users manage the machines, select the OS and underlying
applications, and pay per their use.

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Enabling Technologies - Cloud Computing
 PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service):
 This is a cloud computing model in which the
cloud service provider delivers hardware and
software tools needed for application
development to users over the Internet.
 A PaaS provider hosts the hardware and
software on its own infrastructure. Users have to
build, manage and maintain the applications as
per their requirement.
 SaaS (Software-as-a-Service):
 In this model, a complete software application is
provided to the user.
 It can also be called application as a service.
This service can be availed by paying a monthly,
yearly, etc., subscription.
 Some well-known service providers in the
market are Amazon web services, Azure and
Adafruit.

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Enabling Technologies - Big Data Analytics
 Data is everywhere, and from
every function or operation we
get more data.
 IoT is all about collecting data
from various sensory nodes.
 Handling the huge data is
fundamental to make the
application a success.
 The biggest challenge with big
data is 4Vs. Volume, Variety,
Speed (Velocity) at which it
comes and its Veracity.

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Enabling Technologies - Big Data Analytics
 Scale (Volume):
 Huge volume of data is generated every
minute.
 Storage has become inexpensive and hence,
cost-related challenges have reduced.
 Cloud storage and hardware storage both have
become affordable because of the tremendous
growth in the semiconductor industry.

 Complexity (Variety):
 Data no longer comes from one single source.
 It also comes in different formats (e.g., audio,
video, text and image) and has to be
interpreted systematically.
 Varieties of data becomes a huge challenge.

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Enabling Technologies - Big Data Analytics
 Speed (Velocity):
 The rate at which data is generated very fast.
 Also, data dynamics changes very frequently.
 Nowadays, data comes from anywhere – from fit bit
watches to refrigerators.
 All the data pours in at a very high speed, which makes it
very challenging.

 Data in doubt (Veracity):

 How accurate is all this data anyway?
 Because we are now rely on it
 The data’s nature alters dynamically and uncertainty is
often seen.
 So, it would be challenging to process this unstable data.

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Enabling Technologies - Big Data Analytics
 So the question is: “Who is generating all this
data?” A partial list to answer this is as
follows:
 Sensors from security systems.
 Sensors from weather monitoring systems.
 Sensors from car/navigation systems.
 Sensors from water quality monitoring systems.
 Data from wearables (e.g., bands).
 Data from industrial equipment (e.g., motor
health).
 Sensors from bridges/roads about traffic density
and other factors.
 Social media (e.g., tweets, photo uploads, etc.).
 In IoT data is everything. so, data analytics is
one of the enabling technologies for building a
complete and IoT application.
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Enabling Technologies - Embedded Computing Boards
 An embedded computing board a very important
component to bring IoT design to reality.
 For making the prototype the computing boards play
vital role.
 The computing boards available in the market are
driven by microcontrollers or processors.
 Some of the boards are as follows:
 Raspberry Pi.
 Arduino (many variants).
 NodeMCU.
 Intel Edison.
 All these boards are small, yet smart.
 Also, the cost involved is very minimal and one can
get these boards at cheap rate.

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Enabling Technologies - Communication Protocols
 Protocols are the pillars for good IoT
infrastructure and hence are very important in
communication.
 Data exchange happens through these
protocols, which take care of the following:
 Addressing.
 Format of the messages.
 Message security (encryption and decryption).
 Routing.
 Flow control.
 Error monitoring.
 Sequencing.
 Retransmission guidelines.
 Segmentation of the data packets.

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Enabling Technologies - User Interfaces
 All devices should have an
intuitive user interface.
 IoT devices/services should be
designed in such a way that
accessing and handling the
services are easier and
comfortable for the end user.
 Generally , the end user shall be
provided “mobile application or
web application”.
 The application should be stable
and elegant.

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IoT Challenges
 The following are some of the challenges - technical and non-technical during building an IoT
application .
1. Security/Personnel safety:
 Security is one of the most significant
challenges.
 Number of IoT devices are gradually
increasing, so user data becomes more
vulnerable to theft.
 Poor security features can let attackers
damage the whole network and the rest of
the devices could also become vulnerable.

 People’s personal safety is also a concern

and challenge.
 The implants and wearable used by people
should be safe even from physical harm.

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IoT Challenges
2. Privacy:
 One could be
tracked/monitored by
anyone, as we are
connected 24 × 7 to the
Internet.
 So, there is a threat on
user data and raises a
question on user privacy.
 “How do we ensure that
the data that is sensed
and collected from the
user is with their
permission?”

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IoT Challenges
3. Data extraction with consistency from
complex environments:
 It is a huge challenge to sense and extract
data from complex environments.
 For Example, variation in temperature could
also damage the products being
transported.
 Maintained the temperature is very critical
and should be accurately monitored.
 If the temperature is about to change, then
the corrective action has to be taken.
 Data extraction and storage in the cloud
could be more challenging if the internet is
not available.
 Extracting data inside a room is different
from extracting data from an open
environment.

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IoT Challenges
4. Connectivity:
 This is a serious challenge that the
IoT world must acknowledge.
 Since the Internet is itself a giant
collection of networks and devices
and IoT is a part of it. So
requirement of wired and wireless
connectivity is a necessity.
 The usage of frequency / spectrum
is also to be noted.
 There are spectrum regulations to
be followed based on the country
for which the application is being
developed.
 2.4 GHz band is the ideal band
everywhere.

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IoT Challenges
5. Power requirements:
 All the IoT devices require power and most of them
are battery operated.
 Even though we now have long-lasting batteries that
are economical, demand for power is on the rise.
 Usage of green power sources such as solar and
wind should be motivated.
 If the power requirements are met appropriately, IoT
can be even more powerful.
6. Complexity involved:
 IoT is not easy. It needs a lot of different domains to
integrate into a cohesive system.
 There is very limited expertise available in the
market, but the growth is very rapid.
 The toolkits, software and hardware are not
abundant and real skill is required to build an
application.

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IoT Challenges
7. Storage:
 Cloud is becoming
mandatory for the data to
be stored and analyzed.
 The challenge with
respect to this aspect is
connected to the
following points:
 Which cloud do we use
(private, public, or
hybrid)?
 How do we identify the
service provider?
 How much does it cost?
 Do we really need cloud?

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IoT Levels
 Based on the architectural approach, IoT can be
classified in five levels: Level 1 to Level 5.
Air Conditioner
 Level 1
 It is of minimal complexity. Temperature Sensor

 The application has one sensor (temperature sensor, pressure

sensor, etc).
 The data sensed is stored locally and the data analysis is done Data Collection
locally. and
Analysis
 Monitoring / control is done through an application. Done Locally

 This is used for simple applications.

 Data generated in this level application is not huge. Controlling
and
 For example, a temperature sensor senses the room Monitoring Action
temperature and the data is stored and analyzed locally.
 Based on the analysis, the control action can be triggered
through mobile application or it can help in monitoring the
status.

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IoT Levels
 Level 2
 The second level is slightly more complex than the previous level.
 The data is more voluminous and hence, cloud storage is preferred.
 The frequency of sensing done by the sensor is faster.
 The number of times sensing is done would be much more than Level 1.
 The analysis is carried out locally, while cloud is meant for storage only.
 Based on the data analysis, the control action can be triggered through the web application or mobile
application.
 Some examples are agriculture applications, room freshening solutions based on odor, etc.
 IoT application of an air conditioner. The sensor reads the room temperature at a better pace and rate than
Level 1; the data then goes on to the cloud for storage. Analysis is done locally and the action is triggered
through the mobile application.
Air Conditioner

Temperature Sensor Data Analysis Done Locally Cloud

Data Stored Here Controlling
(Bigger than Level 1) and
Monitoring Action

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IoT Levels
 Level 3
 The data is huge, frequency of sensing done by the sensor is faster and the data is stored on cloud.
 The difference is that the analysis is also carried out on cloud.
 Based on the data analysis, the control action can be triggered through the web application or mobile
application.
 Some examples are agriculture applications, room freshening solutions based on odor, etc., where analysis
of data occurs in the cloud.
Air Conditioner

Cloud
Data Stored and Controlling
Temperature Sensor Analysis and
Both Done Here Monitoring Action

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IoT Levels
 Level 4
 With every passing level, the volume of
data increases and hence the rate at
which it is sensed also increases.
 At this level, multiple nodes are Cloud
Data Collection and
present which are independent of each Temperature Sensor Analysis Done Here
other.
 These nodes upload data to the cloud.
 All the sensors upload the read
sensory inputs on cloud storage. Moisture Sensor

 Analysis is also carried out on the Controlling

and
cloud. Monitoring Action
 Based on the analysis carried out, the
PH Sensor
control action shall be triggered
through a web application or mobile
application.

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IoT Levels
 Level 5
 At this level, the amount of data is
extensive and is sensed much
faster.
 Multiple nodes are involved in the Cloud Data Collection and
applications categorized under Analysis Done Here
Temperature Sensor
Level 5 and these nodes are
independent of each other.
 The sensing of data and its
storage is the same as in all the
Moisture Sensor
previous levels.
 When an application is completely Coordinator Node
Controlling
cloud oriented, it is and
Monitoring Action
computationally intensive in real
PH Sensor
time.
 Based on the data analysis, the
control action can be triggered
through web application or mobile
application as in all other levels.
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Cyber Physical System versus IoT
 An important question is, Is IoT
same as Cyber Physical System
(CPS)?
 There is a misconception that both the
terms are the same.
 We have learned the definition of IoT.
The “thing” can also be accessed from
anywhere, anytime by an authorized
party.
 The information or the sensed data of
the things can be simple.
 So complexity involved in the IoT
applications is minimal.
 For complex levels of operation and to
address larger network of “things”, a
new term called Cyber Physical
System or CPS, has been introduced.

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Cyber Physical System versus IoT
 It is important to note that CPS is not IoT.
 CPS is more complex than IoT and is much more
challenging.
 CPS has IoT as one of its components.
 It is a combination of multiple engineering domains
coming together.
 The flight of an aero plane can be seen as a CPS which
involves multiple domains of engineering.
 CPS is much more autonomous than IoT, taking
appropriate decisions as and when needed.
 It is not just about identifying “things”; it is more about
understanding and taking decisions in a more dynamic
way.
 CPS is mainly concerned about the collaborative
activity of sensors or actuators to achieve a certain
goal.
 For that CPS uses an IoT system to achieve the
collaborative work of the distributed systems.

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 47

Wireless Sensor Network versus IoT
 WSN is a network of multiple
autonomous sensors/nodes.
 Each node has one or more
sensors.
 All the sensed data are passed to
a centrally located server.
 The data passing happens in a
coordinated pattern.
 We can say that WSN is all about
coordinated data collection.
 On the other hand, IoT is much
more than just data collection
and the systems are more
intelligent.

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 48

Summary
 IoT refers to the interconnection of computing devices embedded in everyday objects via the
Internet, enabling them to send and receive data.
 IoT is not owned by any one engineering branch. It is a reality when multiple domains join
forces and combine efforts.
 IoT is all about providing service to any device, anywhere, anybody, and any network.
 IoT has certain characteristics which are important: a. Connectivity. b. Intelligence and
identity. c. Scalability. d. Dynamic and self-adapting (complexity). e. Architecture. f. Safety.
 “Things” refer to variety of devices. At times, even humans in the loop becomes a thing. For
anything to qualify as a “thing”, it requires identity. The “thing” can monitor, measure, etc.; for
example, a temperature sensor could be a “thing”.
 One should understand that “THINGS” = HARDWARE + SOFTWARE + DATA + SERVICE
 IoT stack has seven layers, starting with sensor layer and ending with application layer just
as OSI.

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 49

Summary
 Security/personnel safety, privacy, data extraction with consistency from complex
environments, connectivity, power requirements, complexity involved and storage are the
major challenges we face while building an IoT application.
 IoT application can be classified as Level 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 based on the complexity and
architecture involved.
 IoT is all about sense, connect, store, analyze, control and sharing.

Prof. Kalpesh H Surati #3160716 (IoT)  Unit 1 – Application areas of IoT 50