infolistics

What is IoT?

The idea that "every lightbulb should have an IP address" isn't a new one, but rather a phantasy of IT visionaries for many years. Only when NXP, a somewhat unknown semiconductor company spun off from Philips in the Netherlands introduced its "Green Chip" smart lighting product that the ability to adress a light bulb via an IP address became a market-ready reality.

Nowadays, triggering light bulbs to not only turn on or off, but also to change the light color via some computer protocol is a technology that anyone can purchase at a store and install. The number of suppliers offering some sort of "smart home" system that permits computorized and remote access to lights, thermostats, surveillance cameras, etc. seems to be growing on a daily basis.

Is this IoT? Well, yes and no. The terminus defines that IoT devices should be connected to the internet (which many smart home systems are), but this doesn't necessarily fit the modern definition anymore. Lets attempt a "modern" definition of what IoT is: the Internet of Things is a collection of sensors or actors that usually connected by a radio communications standard and controlled from some sort of computer system.

Modern IoT

Today, IoT generally references devices that can be accessed via some computer protocol via some transmission technology. A protocol is a defined "language" that two devices (of any kind) "speak" in order to communicate. The transmission technology can be anything that makes a connection between the IoT device and a controller that communicates with it: it might use radio waves (frequently), wires (also common) or even infrared light (like a remote control). The medium used to communicate with the device is chosen on the basis of where the device is placed and what the simplest and cheapest method is to connect.

Often, it simply isn't possible to run a network cable to an IoT device (would you want a network cable to plug into your smart lightbulbs at home?). Some of the more common wireless communications standars are Wifi, Zigbee, Z-Wave or Bluetooth, though there are other standards growing in popularity. While most of us are familar with Wifi as a standard that permits our smartphones, tablet computers and laptops to connect wirelessly to our home internet connection, it brings with it some heavy restrictions that don't necessarily make it the system of choice of IoT devices.

With Wifi, all connected devices need to connect their radios to a single access point in order to be accessible. While this is fine for smartphones or laptops that generally transfer large amounts of data on a more or less continuous basis, an IoT temperature sensor for example only sends its data once every few seconds in a tiny packet of information. Using Wifi for this comes with too much overhead for the transmission which, in turn, uses too much power for a battery-powered device.

Bluetooth is another standard that is well established in the world of laptops, smartphones, wireless speakers and other devices that tend to "stream" data. While Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) does offer a solution for low-power transmission of data, it is not frequently used for professional IoT, as it still has too many drawbacks.

Subsequently, more efficient transmission standards, such as Zigbee or Z-Wave are used, as these are not only very low-power friendly but also permit for an ad-hoc "mesh" network to be established. This means that a device doesn't necessarily have to communicate to the bridge that connects the IoT devices to a network - rather, mesh members that do have a direct connection established to the bridge will accept data from other devices that are too far from the bridge to reach it and forward that data. The reverse is also true: if the bridge wants to query a device outside direct radio range, it can still reach it via other devices it can connect to.

Uses of IoT

In the private sector, common uses of IoT have already been mentioned: anything from lightbulbs to heating thermostats, weather stations or even robot lawnmowers are uses of IoT. The sheer numbers of these devices used in a professional context, be that in manufacturing, medicine, facilities or parking garages. Lets look at some examples:

Manufacturing

IoT devices are often used to track temperature and humidity or - in the case of movable goods - even the GPS location. Intelligent cameras are used to sense abnormalities in temperature, shape or motion and autonomously trigger an alarm signal. Modern manufacturing wouldn't work without a plethora of IoT sensors and actors, though these will generally never be available via the internet (for security reasons).

Medicine

Tracking movable medical devices is a problem that most clinics deal with one way or another; these devices have a tendancy to be left in a room once they are no longer needed for a patient, making the location of a device in an emergency a real issue. Applying radio frequency ID (RFID) badges to these devices and mounting IoT RFID antennas in hallways will permit an instant overview of device location at any time of day.

Facility Management

A simple IoT distance sensor, mounted above a plate stacking shelf in the cafeteria can alert personnel when plates run low. IR sensors in bathrooms measure frequency of use, so as to adjust the cleaning interval accordingly. IoT distance sensors mounted over parking spaces not only gives live reporting on parking garage use but also permits visual indication of available parking spaces to motorists, reducing unnecessary driving in the garage.