Technical Building Blocks

Technical Building Blocks

• Four things form basic
building blocks of IoT
system –sensors,
processors, gateways,
applications.
• Each of these nodes
has to have their own
characteristics in order
to form an useful IoT
system.
Sensors:
• These form the front end of the IoT devices.
• These are the so called “Things” of the system.
• Their main purpose is to collect data from its surrounding
(sensors) or give out data to its surrounding (actuators).
• These have to be uniquely identifiable devices with a unique IP
address so that they can be easily identifiable over a large
network.
• These have to be active in nature which means that they should
be able to collect real time data. These can either work on their
own (autonomous in nature) or can be made to work by the user
depending on their needs (user controlled).
• Examples of sensors are: gas sensor, water quality sensor,
moisture sensor etc.
Processors:
• Processors are the brain of the IoT system. Their main
function is to process the data captured by the sensors and
process them so as to extract the valuable data from the
enormous amount of raw data collected. In a word, we can
say that it gives intelligence to the data.
• Processors mostly work on real-time basis and can be
easily controlled by applications. These are also responsible
for securing the data – that is performing encryption and
decryption of data.
• Embedded hardware devices, microcontroller etc are the
ones that process the data because they have processors
attached to it.
Gateways:
• Gateways are responsible for routing the
processed data and send it to proper locations
for its (data) proper utilization.
• In other words, we can say that gateway helps in
to and fro communication of the data. It provides
network connectivity to the data. Network
connectivity is essential for any IoT system to
communicate.
• LAN, WAN, PAN etc. are examples of network
gateways.
Applications:
• Applications form another end of an IoT system.
Applications are essential for proper utilization of
all the data collected.
• These cloud based applications which are
responsible for rendering effective meaning to
the data collected. Applications are controlled by
users and are delivery point of particular services.
• Examples of applications are: home automation
apps, security systems, industrial control hub etc.
 Physical Design of IoT
• Data is exchanged between systems, the increasing demand for
connectivity solutions brings with it new requirements for product
functions and capabilities.
• Once companies begin the physical design of their IoT system, whether by
retrofitting existing products or developing new ones, here, physical
design means more than creating connected products, but forming an
overall intelligent system.
• Industrial machines, for instance, must have sensors capable of
generating significantly more data than ever before, and to send the
information securely for analysis and action.
• Exact placement of sensors on the device, and the ability of the sensors
to function in extreme conditions must be factored.
• Deciding which IoT communication protocol to use for data integration is
another decision companies face at the beginning of IoT design.
• To simplify the complexities that arise in the physical design process,
companies turn to development platforms which focus on both IoT design
and IoT delivery. These platforms ensure that the physical design
attributes necessary for systems to properly function and communicate,
are virtually represented in the system model.
 Protocols
• Infrastructure (ex: 6LowPAN, IPv4/IPv6, RPL)
• Identification (ex: EPC, uCode, IPv6, URIs)
• Comms / Transport (ex: Wifi, Bluetooth, LPWAN)
• Discovery (ex: Physical Web, mDNS, DNS-SD)
• Data Protocols (ex: MQTT, CoAP, AMQP,
Websocket, Node)
• Device Management (ex: TR-069, OMA-DM)
• Semantic (ex: JSON-LD, Web Thing Model)
• Multi-layer Frameworks (ex: Alljoyn, IoTivity,
Weave, Homekit)
• Information is gathered by the sensing node (end
node) is processed first then via connectivity it
reaches the embedded processing nodes that can be
any embedded hardware devices and are processed
there as well.
• It then passes through the connectivity nodes again
and reaches the remote cloud-based processing that
can be any software and are sent to the application
node for the proper applied usage of the data
collected and also for data analysis via big data.
 IoT Functional Blocks
• First, any IoT system acquires information with respect to basic resources
(names, addresses and so on) and related attributes of objects by means
of automatic identification and perception technologies such as RFID,
wireless sensor and satellite positioning, in other words the sensors, RFID
tags and all other uniquely identifiable objects or "things" acquire real-
time information (data) with the virtue of a central hub like smartphones.
• Second, by virtue of many kinds of communications technologies, it
integrates object-related information into the information network and
realizes the intelligent indexing and integration of the information related
to masses of objects by resorting to fundamental resource services
(similar to the resolution, addressing and discovery of the internet).
• Finally, utilizing intelligent computing technologies such as cloud
computing, fuzzy recognition, data mining and semantic analysis, it
analyzes and processes the information related to masses of objects so as
to eventually realize intelligent decision and control in the physical world.
IoT Communication Models
• At the very bottom of IoT architecture, we
start with the Sensors and Connectivity
network which collects information.
• Then we have the Gateway and Network
Layer. Above which we have the
Management Service layer and then at the
end we have the application layer where the
data collected are processed according to the
needs of various applications.
 Sensor, Connectivity and Network
Layer
• This layer consists of RFID tags, sensors (which are essential part of an IoT
system and are responsible for collecting raw data). These form the
essential “things” of an IoT system.
• Sensors, RFID tags are wireless devices and form the Wireless Sensor
Networks (WSN).
• Sensors are active in nature which means that real-time information is to
be collected and processed.
• This layer also has the network connectivity (like WAN, PAN etc.) which is
responsible for communicating the raw data to the next layer which is the
Gateway and Network Layer.
• The devices which are comprised of WSN have finite storage capacity,
restricted communication bandwidth and have small processing speed.
• We have different sensors for different applications – temperature sensor
for collecting temperature data, water quality for examining water quality,
moisture sensor for measuring moisture content of the atmosphere or
soil etc.
 Gateway and Network Layer

• Gateways are responsible for routing the data coming from

the Sensor, Connectivity and Network layer and pass it to the
next layer which is the Management Service Layer.
• This layer requires having a large storage capacity for storing the
enormous amount of data collected by the sensors, RFID tags etc.
Also, this layer needs to have a consistently trusted performance
in terms of public, private and hybrid networks.
• Different IoT device works on different kinds of network
protocols. All this protocols are required to be assimilated in a
single layer. This layer is responsible for integrating various
network protocols.
• From the figure below, at the bottom we have the gateway which
is comprised of embedded OS, Signal Processors and Modulators,
Micro-Controllers etc. Above the gateway we have the Gateway
Networks which are LAN(Local Area Network), WAN(Wide Area
Network) etc.
 IoT Communication Models

• Request-Response Model
• Request-response model is communication model in which the
client sends requests to the server and the server responds to the
requests.
• When the server receives a request, it decides how to respond,
fetches the data, retrieves resource representation, prepares the
response, and then sends the response to the client.
• Request-response is a stateless communication model and each
request-response pair is independent of others.
• HTTP works as a request-response protocol between a client and
server. A web browser may be the client, and an application on a
computer that hosts a web site may be the server.
• Example: A client (browser) submits an HTTP request to the
server; then the server returns a response to the client. The
response contains status information about the request and may
also contain the requested content.
• Publish-Subscribe Model
• Publish-Subscribe is a communication model that
involves publishers, brokers and consumers.
• Publishers are the source of data. Publishers send
the data to the topics which are managed by
the broker.
• Publishers are not aware of the consumers.
Consumers subscribe to the topics which are
managed by the broker.
• When the broker receive data for a topic from
the publisher, it sends the data to all
the subscribed consumers.
• Push-Pull Model
• Push-Pull is a communication model in which the
data producers push the data to queues and the
consumers Pull the data from the Queues.
Producers do not need to be aware of the
consumers.
• Queues help in decoupling the messaging
between the Producers and Consumers. Queues
also act as a buffer which helps in situations
when there is a mismatch between the rate at
which the producers push data and the rate at
which the consumer pull data.
• Exclusive Pair Model
• Exclusive Pair is a bidirectional, fully duplex
communication model that uses a persistent
connection between the client and server.
• Connection is setup it remains open until the
client sends a request to close the connection.
Client and server can send messages to each
other after connection setup.
• Exclusive pair is stateful communication model
and the server is aware of all the open
connections.
 IoT based communication APIs
1. REST-based Communication APIs
• Representational state transfer (REST) is a set of architectural principles by which you can design
Web services the Web APIs that focus on systems’s resources and how resource states are
addressed and transferred.
• REST APIs that follow the request response communication model, the rest architectural
constraint apply to the components, connector and data elements, within a distributed
hypermedia system. The rest architectural constraint are as follows:
• Client-server – The principle behind the client-server constraint is the separation of concerns. for
example clients should not be concerned with the storage of data which is concern of the server.
Similarly the server should not be concerned about the user interface, which is concern of the
client. Separation allows client and server to be independently developed and updated.
• Stateless – Each request from client to server must contain all the information necessary to
understand the request, and cannot take advantage of any stored context on the server. The
session state is kept entirely on the client.
• Cache-able – Cache constraints requires that the data within a response to a request be implicitly
or explicitly leveled as cache-able or non cache-able. If a response is cache-able, then a
client cache is given the right to reuse that response data for later, equivalent requests. caching
can partially or completely eliminate some instructions and improve efficiency and scalability.
• REST is most popular IoT Communication APIs.
• Layered system – layered system constraints, constrains the behavior of
components such that each component cannot see beyond the immediate layer
with they are interacting. For example, the client cannot tell whether it is connected
directly to the end server or two an intermediary along the way. System scalability
can be improved by allowing intermediaries to respond to requests instead of the
end server, without the client having to do anything different.
• Uniform interface – uniform interface constraints requires that the method of
communication between client and server must be uniform. Resources are
identified in the requests (by URIsin web based systems) and are themselves is
separate from the representations of the resources data returned to the client.
When a client holds a representation of resources it has all the information required
to update or delete the resource you (provided the client has required permissions).
Each message includes enough information to describe how to process the message.
• Code on demand – Servers can provide executable code or scripts for clients to
execute in their context. this constraint is the only one that is optional.
• A RESTful web service is a ” Web API ” implemented using HTTP and REST principles.
2. WebSocket based communication API
• Websocket APIs allow bi-directional, full duplex communication between
clients and servers. Websocket APIs follow the exclusive pair
communication model.
• Unlike request-response model such as REST, the WebSocket APIs allow
full duplex communication and do not require new connection to
be setup for each message to be sent.
• Websocket communication begins with a connection setup request sent
by the client to the server. The request (called websocket handshake) is
sent over HTTP and the server interprets it is an upgrade request.
• If the server supports websocket protocol, the server responds to the
websocket handshake response.
• After the connection setup client and server can send data/mesages to
each other in full duplex mode. Websocket API reduce the network traffic
and letency as there is no overhead for connection setup and termination
requests for each message.
• Websocket suitable for IoT applications that have low latency or high
throughput requirements. So Web socket is most suitable IoT
Communication APIs for IoT System.
IoT enabling technology
 Wireless Sensor Networks
• A wireless sensor network comprises of distributed device with sensor
which are used to monitor the environmental and physical conditions.
• A WSN consists of a number of end-nodes and routers and a coordinator.
• End Nodes have several sensors attached to them in node can also act as
routers. Routers are responsible for routing the data packets from end-
nodes to the coordinator.
• The coordinator collects the data from all the nodes. Coordinator also act
as a gateway that connects the WSN to the internet.
Some examples of WSNs used in IoT systems are described as
follows:
• Weather monitoring system use WSNs in which the nodes collect
temperature humidity and other data which is aggregated and
analyzed.
• Indoor air quality monitoring systems use WSNs to collect data on
the indoor air quality and concentration of various gases
• Soil moisture monitoring system use WSNs to monitor soil
moisture at various locations.
• Surveillance system use WSNs for collecting Surveillance data
(such as motion detection data)
• Smart grid use WSNs for monitoring the grid at various points.
• Structural health monitoring system use WSNs to monitor the
health of structures ( buildings, bridges) by collecting vibration
data from sensor nodes de deployed at various points in the
structure.
Cloud Computing
• Cloud computing is a transformative computing paradigm that
involves delivering applications and services over the Internet
Cloud computing involves provisioning of computing, networking
and storage resources on demand and providing these resources
as metered services to the users, in a “pay as you go” model.
• Cloud computing resources can be provisioned on demand by the
users, without requiring intervention with the cloud service
Provider.
• The process of provisioning resources is automated.
• Cloud computing resources can be accessed over The network
using standard access mechanisms that provide platform
independent access through the use of heterogeneous client
platforms such as the workstations, laptops, tablets and
smartphones.
 Big Data Analytics

• Big Data analytics is the process of collecting, organizing and analyzing

large sets of data (called Big Data) to discover patterns and other useful
information.
• Big Data analytics can help organizations to better understand the
information contained within the data and will also help identify the data
that is most important to the business and future business decisions.
• Analysts working with Big Data typically want the knowledge that comes
from analyzing the data.
Some examples of big data generated by IoT systems are described as follows:
• Sensor data generated by IoT system such as weather monitoring stations.
• Machine sensor data collected from sensors embedded in industrial and
energy systems for monitoring their health and detecting Failures.
• Health and fitness data generated by IoT devices such as wearable fitness
bands
• Data generated by ioT systems for location and tracking of vehicles
• Data generated by retail inventory monitoring systems
• Characteristics
• Volume – The quantity of generated and stored data. The size of the data
determines the value and potential insight, and whether it can be
considered big data or not.
• Variety – The type and nature of the data. This helps people who analyze
it to effectively use the resulting insight. Big data draws from text, images,
audio, video; plus it completes missing pieces through data fusion.
• Velocity – In this context, the speed at which the data is generated and
processed to meet the demands and challenges that lie in the path of
growth and development. Big data is often available in real-time.
Compared to small data, big data are produced more continually. Two
kinds of velocity related to Big Data are the frequency of generation and
the frequency of handling, recording, and publishing.
• Veracity – It is the extended definition for big data, which refers to the
data quality and the data value. The data quality of captured data can
vary greatly, affecting the accurate analysis.
 Communication protocols

• Communication protocols form the backbone of IoT systems and enable

network connectivity and coupling to applications.
• Communication protocols allow devices to exchange data over the
network. Multiple protocols often describe different aspects of a single
communication.
• A group of protocols designed to work together are known as a protocol
suite; when implemented in software they are a protocol stack.
• Internet communication protocols are published by the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF).
• The IEEE handles wired and wireless networking, and the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) handles other types. The ITU-T
handles telecommunication protocols and formats for the public
switched telephone network (PSTN). As the PSTN and Internet converge,
the standards are also being driven towards convergence.
 Embedded Systems
• As its name suggests, Embedded means something that is attached to another thing.

• An embedded system can be thought of as a computer hardware system having

software embedded in it.
• An embedded system can be an independent system or it can be a part of a large
system.
• An embedded system is a controller programmed and controlled by a real-time
operating system (RTOS) with a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or
electrical system, often with real-time computing constraints.
• It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and
mechanical parts. Embedded systems control many devices in common use today.
Ninety-eight percent of all microprocessors are manufactured to serve as
embedded system component.
An embedded system has three components −
• It has hardware.
• It has application software.
• It has Real Time Operating system (RTOS) that supervises the application software
and provide mechanism to let the processor run a process as per scheduling by
following a plan to control the latencies. RTOS defines the way the system works. It
sets the rules during the execution of application program. A small scale embedded
system may not have RTOS.