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Internet of Things: A Pill An Aeroplane

The Internet of Things refers to billions of physical devices around the world that are connected to the internet and collect/share data. Thanks to cheap computer chips and ubiquitous wireless networks, any physical object can be transformed into an IoT device. This adds digital intelligence and enables devices to communicate real-time data without human involvement, merging the digital and physical worlds.

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Reena Verma
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49 views4 pages

Internet of Things: A Pill An Aeroplane

The Internet of Things refers to billions of physical devices around the world that are connected to the internet and collect/share data. Thanks to cheap computer chips and ubiquitous wireless networks, any physical object can be transformed into an IoT device. This adds digital intelligence and enables devices to communicate real-time data without human involvement, merging the digital and physical worlds.

Uploaded by

Reena Verma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Internet of things

The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices around the world
that are now connected to the internet, all collecting and sharing data. Thanks to the
arrival of super-cheap computer chips and the ubiquity of wireless networks, it's
possible to turn anything, from something as small as a pill to something as big as an
aeroplane, into a part of the IoT. Connecting up all these different objects and adding
sensors to them adds a level of digital intelligence to devices that would be otherwise
dumb, enabling them to communicate real-time data without involving a human being.
The Internet of Things is making the fabric of the world around us more smarter and
more responsive, merging the digital and physical universes.

 The Internet of Things? It's really a giant robot and we don't know how to fix it

What is an example of an Internet of Things device?

Pretty much any physical object can be transformed into an IoT device if it can be
connected to the internet to be controlled or communicate information.

A lightbulb that can be switched on using a smartphone app is an IoT device, as is a


motion sensor or a smart thermostat in your office or a connected streetlight. An IoT
device could be as fluffy as a child's toy or as serious as a driverless truck. Some larger
objects may themselves be filled with many smaller IoT components, such as a jet
engine that's now filled with thousands of sensors collecting and transmitting data back
to make sure it is operating efficiently. At an even bigger scale, smart cities projects are
filling entire regions with sensors to help us understand and control the environment. 

SEE: 5G: What it means for IoT(ZDNet/TechRepublic special feature) | Download


the free PDF version (TechRepublic)
The term IoT is mainly used for devices that wouldn't usually be generally expected to
have an internet connection, and that can communicate with the network independently
of human action. For this reason, a PC isn't generally considered an IoT device and
neither is a smartphone -- even though the latter is crammed with sensors.
A smartwatch or a fitness band or other wearable device might be counted as an IoT
device, however.

 Google and Levi's unveil internet-connected jacket

What is the history of the Internet of Things?

The idea of adding sensors and intelligence to basic objects was discussed throughout
the 1980s and 1990s (and there are arguably some much earlier ancestors), but apart
from some early projects -- including an internet-connected vending machine --
progress was slow simply because the technology wasn't ready. Chips were too big and
bulky and there was no way for objects to communicate effectively.

Processors that were cheap and power-frugal enough to be all but disposable were
needed before it finally became cost-effective to connect up billions of devices.
The adoption of RFID tags -- low-power chips that can communicate wirelessly -- solved
some of this issue, along with the increasing availability of broadband internet and
cellular and wireless networking. The adoption of IPv6 -- which, among other things,
should provide enough IP addresses for every device the world (or indeed this galaxy)
is ever likely to need -- was also a necessary step for the IoT to scale. 

Kevin Ashton coined the phrase 'Internet of Things' in 1999, although it took at least
another decade for the technology to catch up with the vision.
"The IoT integrates the interconnectedness of human culture -- our 'things' -- with the
interconnectedness of our digital information system -- 'the internet.' That's the IoT,"
Ashton told ZDNet.

Adding RFID tags to expensive pieces of equipment to help track their location was one
of the first IoT applications. But since then, the cost of adding sensors and an internet
connection to objects has continued to fall, and experts predict that this basic
functionality could one day cost as little as 10 cents, making it possible to connect
nearly everything to the internet.

The IoT was initially most interesting to business and manufacturing, where its
application is sometimes known as machine-to-machine (M2M), but the emphasis is
now on filling our homes and offices with smart devices, transforming it into something
that's relevant to almost everyone. Early suggestions for internet-connected devices
included 'blogjects' (objects that blog and record data about themselves to the internet),
ubiquitous computing (or 'ubicomp'), invisible computing, and pervasive computing.
However, it was Internet of Things and IoT that stuck.

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