MODULE 4

ASSOCIATED IoT
TECHNOLOGIES
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases,
networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster
innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.
Cloud Computing
Introduction
 Sensor nodes are the key components of Internet of Things (IoT).
 These nodes are resource-constrained in terms of storage, processing, and energy.
 In IoT, the devices are connected and communicate with one another by sharing the sensed and
processed data.
 Handling the enormous data generated by this large number of heterogeneous devices is a non-trivial
task.
 Cloud computing becomes an essential building block of the IoT architecture.
 Cloud computing is more than traditional network computing.
 Unlike network computing, cloud computing comprises a pool of multiple resources such as servers,
storage, and network from single/multiple organizations.
 These resources are allocated to the end users as per requirement, on a payment basis.
 In cloud computing architecture, an end user can request for customized resources such as storage
space, RAM, operating systems, and other software to a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) as shown in
Figure.
CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDERS
 Cloud service providers are companies that establish public clouds, manage private clouds, or
offer on-demand cloud computing components (also known as cloud computing services)
 When your hardware and software are all on-premises, it’s up to you and your team to
manage, update, and replace each component as needed. Cloud service providers allow you to
allocate the management of one, several, or all of the parts of your infrastructure to a third
party. Instead of buying and maintaining your own infrastructure, you access it as a service.
 Cloud computing comprises a shared pool of computing resources, which are accessible dynamically,
universally, and on-demand basis by the users.
 This shared pool of resources includes networks, storage, processor, and servers.
 These resources are accessible by multiple users through a regular command-line terminal at the same
or different time instants.
 The services of cloud computing are based on the pay-per-use model.
 The concept is the same as paying utility bills based on consumption.
 In cloud computing, a user pays for the cloud services as per the duration of their resource usage.
 On the other hand, there is a CSP, that provides cloud services to end user organizations.
Virtualization
 The key concept of cloud computing is virtualization.

 The technique of sharing a single resource among multiple end user organizations or end users is
known as virtualization.
 In the virtualization process, a physical resource is logically distributed among multiple users.

 However, a user perceives that the resource is unlimited and is dedicatedly provided to him/her.

 Figure 10.2(a) represents a traditional desktop, where an application (App) is running on top of an
OS, and resources are utilized
 only for that particular application. On the other hand, multiple resources can be used by different end
users through virtualization software, as shown in Figure 10.2(b).
 Virtualization software separates the resources logically so that there is no conflict among the users
during resource utilization.
Advantages of virtualization
 With the increasing number of interconnected heterogeneous devices in IoT, the importance of
virtualization also increases.
 In IoT, a user is least bothered about where the data from different heterogeneous devices are stored
or processed for a particular application.
 Users are mainly concerned for their services.
 Typically, there are different software such as VMware, which enable the concept of virtualization.
 With the increasing importance of cloud computing, different organizations and individuals are using
it extensively.
 Moreover, there is always a risk of system crash at any instant of time. In such a scenario, cloud
computing plays a vital role by keeping backups through virtualization.
 Primarily, there are two entities in a cloud computing architecture: end users and CSP.
 Both end users and CSP are benefited in several aspects through the process of virtualization.
 The major advantages, from the perspective of the end user and CSP, are as follows
 Advantages for End Users

Variety  The process of virtualization in cloud computing enables an end user organization to use
various types of applications based on the requirements.
 As an example, suppose John takes up still photography as a hobby. His resource-limited
PC can barely handle the requirements for a photo editing software, say X-photo-editor.
 In order to augment his PC’s regular performance, he uninstalls the X-photo-editor
software and purchases a cloud service, which lets him access a virtual machine (VM).
 A virtual machine (VM) is a digital version of a physical computer. Virtual machine
software can run programs and operating systems, store data, connect to networks, and do
other computing functions, and requires maintenance such as updates and system
monitoring.
 In his VM, he installs the X-photo-editor software, by which he can edit photos efficiently
and, most importantly, without worrying about burdening his PC or running out of
processing resources.
 After six months, John’s interest in his hobby grows and he moves on to video-editing too.
 For editing his captured videos, he installs a video editing software, Y-video-editor, in his
VM and can edit videos efficiently.
 Additionally, he has the option of installing and using a variety of software for different
purposes.
Availability  Virtualization creates a logical separation of the resources of multiple entities without any
intervention of end users.
 The concept of virtualization makes available a considerable amount of resources as per user
requirements.
 The end users feel that there are unlimited resources present dedicatedly for him/her.
 Example: Jane uses a particular email service.
 Her account has been active for over ten years now; however, it offers limited storage of 2 GB.
 Due to the ever-accumulating file attachments in different emails, her 2 GB complimentary
space is exhausted.
 There is a provision that if she pays $100 annually, she can attach additional space to her mail
service.
 This upgrade allows her to have more storage at her disposal for a considerable time in the
future.
Portability:  Portability signifies the availability of cloud computing services from anywhere in the
world, at any instant of time.
 For example, a person flying from the US to the UK still has access to their documents,
although they cannot physically access the devices on which the data is stored.
 This has been made possible by platforms such as Google Drive.
Elasticity:  Through the concept of virtualization, an end user can scale-up or scale-down resource
utilization as per requirements.
 We have already explained that cloud computing is based on a pay-per-use model.
 The end user needs to pay the amount based on their usage.
 For example, Jack rents two VMs in a cloud computing infrastructure from a CSP.
 VM1 has the Ubuntu operating system (OS), on which Jack is simulating a network
scenario using Network Simulator-2 (NS2).
 VM2 has Windows 10 OS, on which he is running a MATLAB simulation. However,
after a few days, Jack feels that his VM2 has served its purpose and is no longer required.
 Consequently, he releases VM2 and, after that, he is only billed for VM1.
 Thus, Jack can scale-up or scale-down his resources in cloud computing, which employs
the concept of virtualization.
 Advantages for CSP

(a) Resource • A CSP in a cloud computing architecture procures resources on their own or get
Utilization: them from third parties.
• These resources are distributed among different users dynamically as per their
requirements.
• A segment of a particular resource provided to a user at a time instant, can be
provided to another user at a different time instant.
• In the cloud computing architecture, resources can be re-utilized for multiple users.
(b) Effective • A CSP generates revenue from the end users based on resource utilization.
Revenue • As an example, today, a user A is utilizing storage facility from a particular CSP.
Generation • The user will release the storage after a few days when his/her requirement is
complete.
• The CSP earns some revenue from user A for the utilization of the allocated storage
facility.
• In the future, the CSP can provide the same storage facility to a different user, B.
• Again, the CSP can generate revenue from user B for his/her storage utilization.
 Types of virtualization:
 Based on the requirements of the users, we categorized virtualization
Hardware  This type of virtualization indicates the sharing of hardware resources among multiple users.
Virtualization:  For example, a single processor appears as many different processors in a cloud computing
architecture.
 Different operating systems can be installed in these processors and each of them can work as
stand-alone machines.

Storage  In storage virtualization, the storage space from different entities are accumulated virtually,
Virtualization: and seem like a single storage location.
 Through storage virtualization, a user’s documents or files exist in different locations in a
distributed fashion.
 The users are under the impression that they have a single dedicated storage space provided
to them.
Application  A single application is stored at the cloud end.
Virtualization:  However, as per requirement, a user can use the application in his/her local computer without
ever actually installing the application.
 Similar to storage virtualization, in application virtualization, the users get the impression that
applications are stored and executed in their local computer.

Desktop  This type of virtualization allows a user to access and utilize the services of a desktop that
Virtualization: resides at the cloud.
 The users can use the desktop from their local desktop.
Cloud Models
 As per the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Cloud Computing Standards Roadmap
Working Group, the cloud model can be divided into two parts:
(1) Service model:
a) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS),
b) Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and
c) Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
(2) Deployment model:
d) Private cloud,
e) Community cloud,
f) Public cloud, and
g) Hybrid cloud.
Service Model

Software-as-a-Service  This service provides access to different software applications to an end user
(SaaS): through Internet connectivity.
 For accessing the service, a user does not need to purchase and install the
software applications on his/her local desktop.
 The software is located in a cloud server, from where the services are provided to
multiple end users.
 SaaS offers scalability, by which users have the provision to use multiple
software applications as per their requirements.
 Additionally, a user does not need to worry about the update of the software
applications.
 These software are accessible from any location.
 One example of SaaS is Microsoft Office 365.
Platform-as-a-  PaaS provides a computing platform, by which a user can develop and run
Service (PaaS): different applications.
 The cloud user need not go through the burden of installing and managing
the infrastructure such as operating system, storage, and networks.
 However, the users can develop and manage the applications that are
running on top of it.
 An example of PaaS is Google App Engine.

Infrastructure-  IaaS provides infrastructure such as storage, networks, and computing

as-a-Service resources.
(IaaS):  A user uses the infrastructure without purchasing the software and other
network components.
 In the infrastructure provided by a CSP, a user can use any composition of
the operating system and software.
 An example of IaaS is Google Compute Engine.
 Deployment Model

(a) Private This type of cloud is owned explicitly by an end user organization.
Cloud: The internal resources of the organization maintain the private cloud.
This cloud forms with the collaboration of a set of organizations for a specific
(b) Community community.
Cloud:
For a community cloud, each organization has some shared interests.
The public cloud is owned by a third party organization, which provides services to the
(c) Public Cloud: common public.
The service of this cloud is available for any user, on a payment basis.
(d) Hybrid
This type of cloud comprises two or more clouds (private, public, or community).
Cloud:
Service-Level Agreement(SLA) in Cloud Computing
 The most important actors in cloud computing are the end user/customer and CSP.
 Cloud computing architecture aims to provide optimal and efficient services to the end users and
generate revenue from them as per their usage.
 Therefore, for a clear understanding between CSP and the customer about the services, an agreement
is required to be made, which is known as service-level agreement (SLA).
 An SLA provides a detailed description of the services that will be received by the customer.
 Based on the SLA, a customer can be aware of each and every term and condition of the services
before availing them.
 An SLA may include multiple organizations for making the legal contract with the customers.
Importance of SLA
 An SLA is essential in cloud computing architecture for both CSP and customers.
 It is important because of the following reasons:

• Customer Point of View:

 Each CSP has its SLA, which contains a detailed description of the services.
 If a customer wants to use a cloud service, he/she can compare the SLAs of different organizations.
Therefore, a customer can choose a preferred CSP based on the SLAs.
• CSP Point of View:
 In many cases, certain performance issues may occur for a particular service, because of which a CSP
may not be able to provide the services efficiently. Thus in such a situation, a CSP can explicitly
mention in the SLA that they are not responsible for inefficient service.
Metrics for SLA
 Depending on the type of services, an SLA is constructed with different metrics.

 A few common metrics that are required to be included for constructing an SLA are as follows:

(i) Availability: This metric signifies the amount of time the service will be accessible for the customer.
(ii) Response Time: The maximum time that will be taken for responding to a customer request is
measured by response time.
(iii) Portability: This metric indicates the flexibility of transferring the data to another service.
(iv) Problem Reporting: How to report a problem, whom and how to be contacted, is explained in this
metric.
(v) Penalty: The penalty for not meeting the promises mentioned in the SLA.
Cloud Implementation
Cloud simulation
 With the rapid deployment of IoT infrastructure for different applications, the requirement for cloud
computing is also increasing.
 It is challenging to estimate the performance of an IoT system with the cloud before real
implementation.
 Real deployment of the cloud is a complex and costly procedure.
 There is a requirement for simulating the system through a cloud simulator before real
implementation.
 There are many cloud simulators that provide pre-deployment test services for repeatable
performance evaluation of a system.
 A cloud simulator provides the following advantages to a customer:

• Pre-deployment test before real implementation

• System testing at no cost
• Repeatable evaluation of the system
• Pre-detection of issues that may affect the system performance
• Flexibility to control the environment
 Different types of cloud simulators are available. A few cloud simulators are listed
here:
1. CloudSim
(a) Description: CloudSim is a popular cloud simulator that was developed at the University of
Melbourne.
 This simulator is written in a Java-based environment.
 In CloudSim, a user is allowed to add or remove resources dynamically during the simulation and
evaluate the performance of the scenario.
(b) Features: CloudSim has different features, which are listed as follows:
(1) The CloudSim simulator provides various cloud computing data centers along with different data
center network topologies in a simulation environment.
(2) Using CloudSim, virtualization of server hosts can be done in a simulation.
(3) A user is able to allocate virtual machines (VMs) dynamically.
(4) It allows users to define their own policies for the allocation of host resources to VMs.
(5) It provides flexibility to add or remove simulation components dynamically.
(6) A user can stop and resume the simulation at any instant of time.
2. CloudAnalyst
(a) Description: CloudAnalyst is based on CloudSim.

This simulator provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for simulating a cloud environment, easily.
 The CloudAnalyst is used for simulating large-scale cloud applications.

(b) Features:

(1) The CloudAnalyst simulator is easy to use due to the presence of the GUI.

(2) It allows a user to add components and provides a flexible and high level of configuration.

(3) A user can perform repeated experiments, considering different parameter values.

(4) It can provide a graphical output, including a chart and table.

3. GreenCloud
(a) Description: GreenCloud is developed as an extension of a packet-level network simulator, NS2.
 This simulator can monitor the energy consumption of different network components such as servers and
switches.
(b) Features:
(1) GreenCloud is an open-source simulator with user-friendly GUI.
(2) It provides the facility for monitoring the energy consumption of the network and its various components.
(3) It supports the simulations of cloud network components.
(4) It enables improved power management schemes.
(5) It allows a user to manage and configure devices, dynamically, in simulation.

A network simulator is a software program that can predict the performance of a computer network or a wireless
communication network. Since communication networks have become too complex for traditional analytical methods
to provide an accurate understanding of system behavior, network simulators are used. In simulators, the computer
network is modeled with devices, links, applications, etc., and the network performance is reported. Simulators come
with support for the most popular technologies and networks in use today such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT),
Wireless LANs, mobile ad hoc networks, wireless sensor networks, vehicular ad hoc networks,
cognitive radio networks, LTE etc.
6. An open-source cloud: OpenStack
 For the real implementation of cloud, there are various open-source cloud platforms available such as
OpenStack, CloudStack, and Eucalyptus.

 The OpenStack is free software, which provides a cloud IaaS to users.

 A user can easily use this cloud with the help of a GUI-based web interface or through the command
line.
 OpenStack supports a vastly scalable cloud system, in which different pre-configured software suites
are available.

Features of OpenStack
(i) OpenStack allows a user to create and deploy virtual machines.
(ii) It provides the flexibility of setting up a cloud management environment.
(iii) OpenStack supports an easy horizontal scaling: dynamic addition or removal of instances for
providing services to multiple numbers of users.
(iv) This cloud platform allows the users to access the source code and share their code to the
community.
 A commercial cloud: Amazon web services (AWS)
 Besides the open-source cloud, there are various commercial cloud infrastructures available in the
market.
 Few of the popular commercial cloud infrastructures are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft
Azure, and Google App Engine.
The different features of AWS .
 A user can launch and manage server instances in AWS
 a web interface is used to handle the instances.
 Additionally, AWS provides different APIs (application programming interfaces), tools, and utilities
for users.
 Like other commercial clouds, Amazon AWS follows the pay-per-use model.
 This cloud infrastructure provides a virtual computing environment, where different configurations,
such as CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity are available.
Features of AWS
(i) It provides flexibility to scale and manage the server capacity.
(ii) AWS provides control to OS and deployment software.
(iii) It follows the pay-per-use model.
(iv) The cloud allows a user to establish connectivity between the physical network and private virtual
network
(v) The developer tools in this cloud infrastructure help a user for fast development and deployment of
the software.
(vi) AWS provides excellent management tools, which help a user to monitor and automate different
components of the cloud.
(vii) The cloud provides machine learning facilities, which are very useful for data scientists and
developers.
(viii) For extracting meaning from data, analytics play an important role. AWS also provides a data
analytics platform.
6. Sensor-Cloud: Sensors-as-a-Service
 Different services of cloud computing, which include SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS.
 we will explore a new concept known as Sensors-as-a-Service (Se-aaS) in a sensor-cloud
architecture .
 Virtualization of resources is the backbone of cloud computing.
 In a sensor-cloud, virtualization of sensors plays an essential role in providing services to multiple
users.
 In a sensor-cloud architecture, multiple users receive services from different sensor nodes,
simultaneously.
 The users remain unaware to the fact that a set of sensor nodes is not dedicated solely to them for
their application requirements.
 In reality, a particular sensor may be used for serving multiple user applications, simultaneously.
 The main aim of sensor-cloud infrastructure is to provide an opportunity for the common mass to use
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) on a payment basis.
 Similar to cloud computing, sensor-cloud architecture also follows the pay-per-use model.
Importance of sensor-cloud
 The sensor-cloud infrastructure is based on the concept of cloud computing, in which a user
application is served by a set of homogeneous or heterogeneous sensor nodes.
 These sensor nodes are selected from a common pool of sensor nodes, as per the requirement of user
applications.
 Using the sensor-cloud infrastructure, a user receives data for an application from multiple sensor
nodes without owning them.
 Unlike sensor-cloud, if a user wants to use traditional WSN for a certain application, he/she has to go
through different pre-deployment and post-deployment hurdles.
 Figures 10.6 depicts the usage of sensor nodes using traditional WSN and sensor-cloud infrastructure.
Case Study: John is a farmer, and he has a significantly vast farmable area with him.
 As manual supervision of the entire field is very difficult, he has planned to deploy a WSN in his
farming field.
 Before purchasing the WSN, he has to decide which sensors should be used in his fields for sensing
the different agricultural parameters.
 He also has to decide the type and number of other components such as an electronics circuit board
and communication module required along with the sensors.
 As there are numerous vendors, it is challenging for him to choose the correct (in terms of quality and
cost) vendor, as well as the sensor owner from whom the WSN will be procured.
 He finally decides the type of sensors along with the other components that are required for
monitoring his agricultural field.
 Now, John faces the difficulty of optimally planning the sensor node deployment in his fields.
 After going through these hurdles, he decides on the number of sensor nodes that are required for
monitoring his field.
 Finally, John procures the WSNs from a vendor.
 After procurement, he deploys the sensor nodes and connects different components.
 As WSN consists of different electronic components, he has to maintain the WSN after its deployment. After
three months, as his requirement of agricultural field monitoring is completed, he removes the WSN from the
agricultural field.
 Six months later, John plans to use the WSN that was deployed in the agricultural field for home
surveillance.
 As the agriculture application is different from the home surveillance application, the sensor required for the
system also changes.
 Thus, John has to go through all the steps again, including maintenance, deployment, and hardware
management, for the surveillance system.
 Thus, we observe that the users face different responsibilities for using a WSN for an application.
 In such a situation, if sensor-cloud architecture is present, John can easily use WSNs for his application on a
rental basis.
 Moreover, through the use of sensor-cloud, John can easily switch the application without any manual
intervention.
 On the other end, service providers of the sensor-cloud infrastructure may serve multiple users with the same
sensors and earn profit.
Architecture of a sensor-cloud platform
 In a traditional cloud computing architecture,
two actors, cloud service provider (CSP) and
end users (customer) play the key role.
 Unlike cloud computing, in sensor-cloud
architecture, the sensor owners play an
important role along with the service provider
and end users.
 A service provider in sensor-cloud architecture
is known as a sensor-cloud service provider
(SCSP).

 Cloud computing involves five actors:

consumer, provider, auditor, broker and carrier.
  Actors in sensor-cloud architecture

End User:  This actor is also known as a customer of the sensor-cloud services.
 An end user registers him/herself with the infrastructure through a Web portal.
 Thereafter, he/she chooses the template of the services that are available in the sensor-cloud
architecture to which he/she is registered.
 Finally, through the Web portal, the end user receives the services.
 Based on the type and usage duration of service, the end user pays the charges to the SCSP.
Sensor  The sensor-cloud architecture is based on the concept of Se-aaS. Therefore, the deployment of the
Owner: sensors is essential in order to provide services to the end users.
 These sensors in a sensor cloud architecture are owned and deployed by the sensor owners.
 A particular sensor owner can own multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous sensor nodes.
 Based on the requirements of the users, these sensor nodes are virtualized and assigned to serving
multiple applications at the same time.
 A sensor owner receives rent depending upon the duration and usage of his/her sensor node(s).
Sensor-Cloud  An SCSP is responsible for managing the entire sensor-cloud infrastructure (including
Service Provider management of sensor owners and end users handling, resource handling, database
(SCSP): management, cloud handling etc.), centrally.
 The SCSP receives rent from end users with the help of a pre-defined pricing model.
 The pricing scheme may include the infrastructure cost, sensor owners’ rent, and the
revenue of the SCSP.
 Different algorithms are used for managing the entire infrastructure.
 The SCSP receives the rent from the end users and shares a partial amount with the sensor
owners.
 The remaining amount is used for maintaining the infrastructure.
 In the process, the SCSP earns a certain amount of revenue from the payment of the end
users.
Sensor-Cloud Architecture from Different Viewpoints
 We explore the sensor-cloud architecture from two view points:

(i) User organizational view and

(ii) real architectural view .

User Organizational • This view of sensor-cloud architecture is simple.

View:
• In a sensor-cloud, end users interact with a Web interface for selecting
templates of the services. the services are received by the end users
through the Web interface.
• In this architecture, an end user is unaware of the complex processes that
are running at the back end.
Real Architectural • The complex processing of sensor-cloud architecture is visualized through this
View: view.
• The processes include sensor allocation, data extraction from the sensors,
virtualization of sensor nodes, maintenance of the infrastructure, data center
management, data caching, and others.
• For each process, there is a specific algorithm or scheme.
Agricultural IoT
Introduction
 IoT-enabled technologies are widely used for increasing crop productivity, generating significant
revenue, and efficient farming.
 The development of the IoT paradigm helps in precision farming.
 Agricultural IoT systems perform crop health monitoring, water management, crop security, farming
vehicle tracking, automatic seeding, and automatic pesticide spraying over the agricultural fields.
 In an IoT based agricultural system, different sensors necessarily have to be deployed over agricultural
fields, and the sensed data from these sensors need to be transmitted to a centralized entity such as a
server, cloud, or fog devices.
 Further, these data have to be processed and analyzed to provide various agricultural services.
 Finally, a user should be able to access these services from handheld devices or computers.
Components of an agricultural IoT
 The development of an agricultural IoT has helped farmers enhance crop productivity and reduce the
overhead of manual operations of the agricultural equipment in the fields.
 Different components such as analytics, drone, cloud computing, sensors, hand-held devices, and
wireless connectivity enable agricultural IoT
 The different components of an agricultural IoT

Cloud • Sensors such as the camera, devices to measure soil moisture, soil humidity, and soil pH-
computing level are used for serving different agricultural applications.
• These sensors produce a huge amount of agricultural data that need to be analyzed.
• Sometimes, based on the data analysis, action needs to be taken, such as switching on the
water pump for irrigation.
• The data from the deployed sensors are required to be stored on a long-term basis since it
may be useful for serving future applications.
• For agricultural data analysis and storage, the cloud plays a crucial role.
Sensors: • we already explored different types of sensors and their respective requirements in IoT
applications. Sensors are the major backbone of any IoT application.
• for agricultural IoT applications, the sensors are an indispensable component.
• A few of the common sensors used in agriculture are sensors for soil moisture, humidity,
water level, and temperature.
Cameras: • Imaging is one of the main components of agriculture.
• multispectral, thermal, and RGB cameras are commonly used for scientific agricultural
IoT.
• These cameras are used for estimating the nitrogen status, thermal stress, water stress, and
crop damage due to inundation, as well as infestation.
• Video cameras are used for crop security
Satellites: • In modern precision agriculture, satellites are extensively used to extract information from field
imagery.
• The satellite images are used in agricultural applications to monitor different aspects of the crops
such as crop health monitoring and dry zone assessing over a large area.
Analytics: • Analytics contribute to modern agriculture massively.
• Currently, with the help of analytics, farmers can take different agricultural decisions, such as
• Estimating the required amount of fertilizer and water in an agricultural field and estimating the
type of crops that need to be cultivated during the upcoming season.
• Analytics is not only responsible for making decisions locally; it is used to analyze data for the
entire agricultural supply chain.
• Data analytics can also be used for estimating the crop demand in the market.
Wireless • One of the main components of agricultural iot is wireless connectivity.
connectivity: • Wireless connectivity enables the transmission of the agricultural sensor data from the field to
the cloud/server.
• It also enables farmers to access various application services over handheld devices, which rely
on wireless connectivity for communicating with the cloud/server.
Handheld • Over the last few years, e-agriculture has become very popular.
devices: • One of the fundamental components of e-agriculture is a handheld device such as a
smartphone.
• Farmers can access different agricultural information, such as soil and crop conditions of
their fields and market tendency, over their smartphones.
• Additionally, farmers can also control different field equipment, such as pumps, from their
phones.
Drones: • Currently, the use of drones has become very attractive in different applications such as
surveillance, healthcare, product delivery, photography, and agriculture.
• Drone imaging is an alternative to satellite imaging in agriculture.
• In continuation to providing better resolution land mapping visuals, drones are used in
agriculture for crop monitoring, pesticide spraying, and irrigation.
 An agricultural food chain (agri-chain) represents the different stages that are involved in agricultural
activity right from the agricultural fields to the consumers.
 The figure depicts the applications of different IoT components required for performing these
agricultural operations.
In the agri-chain, we have different stages
1. Farming- In farming, various operations, such as seeding, irrigation, fertilizer spreading, and pesticide
spraying, are involved. For performing these operations, different IoT components are used.
 As an example, for monitoring the soil health, soil moisture and temperature sensors are used; drones
are used for spraying pesticides; and through wireless connectivity, a report on on-field soil conditions
is sent directly to a users’ handheld device or cloud.
2. Transport. Transport indicates the transfer of crops from the field to the local storage, and after that, to
long-term storage locations. In transport, smart vehicles can automatically load and unload crops.
 The global positioning system (GPS) plays an important role by tracking these smart devices, and radio
frequency identification (RFID) is used to collect information regarding the presence of a particular
container of a crop at a warehouse.
3. Storage is one of the important operations in the agri-chain. It is responsible for storing crops on a long
term basis.
 Cold storage is used for preserving the crops for a long time and providing them with the necessary
climatic and storage conditions and protection.
 In the storage, cameras are used to keep a check and protect the harvested crops. The camera feeds are
transferred through wireless connectivity to a remote server or a cloud infrastructure.
 Moreover, the amount and type of crops stored in a storage location are tracked and recorded with the
help of sensors and cloud computing.
4. processing: pushing the crops into the market.
 Plays a crucial role in an agrichain.
 Processing includes proper drying and packaging of crops. For drying and packaging, different sensors
are used.
 Packaging is the immediate operation prior to pushing the crop into the market.
 It is essential to track every package and store all the details related to the crops in the cloud.
5. Logistics enables the transfer of the packed crops to the market with the help of smart vehicles.
 These smart vehicles are equipped with different sensors that help in loading and unloading the packed
crop autonomously.
 Gps is used in these smart vehicles for locating the position of the packed crops at any instant and
tracking their whereabouts.
 All the logistical information gets logged in the cloud with the help of wireless connectivity.

6. Market : the packed items reach the market using logistical channels. From the market, these items are
accessible to consumers.
 The details of the sale and purchase of the items are stored in the form of records in the cloud.
Advantages of IoT in agriculture
 Modern technological advancements and the rapid developments in IoT components have gradually
increased agricultural productivity.
 Agricultural IoT enables the autonomous execution of different agricultural operations.
 The specific advantages of the agricultural IoT are as follows

Automatic • IoT-based agricultural systems are capable of autonomous seeding and planting over the
seeding: agricultural fields.
• These systems significantly reduce manual effort, error probability, and delays in seeding and
planting.
Efficient fertilizer • Agricultural IoT has been used to develop solutions that are capable of applying and
and pesticide controlling the amount of fertilizers and pesticides efficiently.
distribution: • These solutions are based on the analysis of crop health.

Water • The excess distribution of water in the agricultural fields may affect the growth of crops. The
management: availability of global water resources is finite.
• The constraint of limited and often scarce usable water resources is an influential driving
factor for the judicious and efficient distribution of agricultural water resources.
• Using the various solutions available for agricultural IoT, water can be distributed efficiently,
all the while, increasing field productivity and yields.
• The IoT-enabled agricultural systems are capable of monitoring the water level and moisture
in the soil, and accordingly, distribute the water to the agricultural fields.
Real-time and • Unlike traditional agriculture, in IoT-based farming, a stakeholder can remotely
remote monitor different agricultural parameters, such as crop and soil conditions, plant
monitoring: health, and weather conditions.
• Using a smart handheld device (e.g., cellphone), a farmer can actuate on-field
farming machinery such as a water pump, valves, and other pieces of machinery
Easy yield • Agricultural IoT solutions can be used to record and aggregate data, which may be
estimation: spatially or temporally diverse, over long periods.
• These records can be used to come up with various estimates related to farming and
farm management.
• The most prominent among these estimates is crop yield, which is done based on
established crop models and historical trends.
Production • The detailed analysis of crop production, market rates, and market demand are
overview: essential factors for a farmer to estimate optimized crop yields and decide upon the
essential steps for future cropping practices.
• IoT-based agriculture acts as a force multiplier for farmers by enabling them to have
a stronger hold on their farming as well as crop management practices, and that too
mostly autonomously.
• Agricultural IoT provides a detailed product overview on the farmers’ handheld
devices.
 In-situ assessment of leaf area index using IoT-based agricultural system
 A leaf area index (LAI) expresses the leaf area per unit ground or trunk surface area of a plant
and is commonly used as an indicator of the growth rate of a plant.
 LAI is a complex variable that relates not only to the size of the canopy, but also to its density,
and the angle at which leaves are oriented in relation to one another and to light sources.
 LAI varies with seasonal changes in plant activity,[5] and is typically highest in the spring when
new leaves are being produced and lowest in late summer or early fall when leaves senesce
(and may be shed).
 LAI is a measure for the total area of leaves per unit ground area and directly related to the
amount of light that can be intercepted by plants. It is an important variable used to predict
photosynthetic primary production, evapotranspiration and as a reference tool for crop growth.
 In this case study, we focus on an IoT-based agricultural system developed by Bauer et al. [1]. The
authors focus on the in-situ assessment of the leaf area index (LAI), which is considered as an essential
parameter for the growth of most crops.
 LAI is a dimensionless quantity which indicates the total leaf area per unit ground area.
 For determining the canopy (the portion of the plant, which is above the ground) light, LAI plays an
essential role.
Architecture
 The authors integrated the hardware and software components of their implementation in order to
develop the IoT-based agricultural system for LAI assessment.
 One of the important components in this system is the wireless sensor network (WSN), which is used as
the LAI assessment unit.
 The authors used two types of sensors:

(i) ground-level sensor (G) and

(ii) reference sensor (R).
 These sensors are used to measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).
 The distance between the two types of sensors must be optimal so that these are not located very far
from one another.
 In this system, the above-ground sensor (R) acts as a cluster head while the other sensor nodes (Gs) are
located below the canopy.
 These Gs and R connect and form a star topology.
 A solar panel is used to charge the cluster head.
 The system is based on IoT architecture.
 A cluster head is attached to a central base station, which acts as a gateway.
 This gateway connects to an IoT infrastructure.
Hardware
 For sensing and transmitting the data from the deployment fields to a centralized unit, such as a server and
a cloud, different hardware components are used in the system.
 The commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) TelosB platform is used in the system.
 The TelosB motes are equipped with three types of sensors: temperature, humidity, and light sensors.
 With the help of an optical filter and diffuser accessory on the light sensors, the PAR is calculated to
estimate the LAI.
 The system is based on the cluster concept.
 A Raspberry-Pi is used as a cluster head, which connects with four ground sensor motes.
 The Raspberry-Pi is a tiny single board, which works as a computer and is used to perform different
operations in IoT.
 Humidity and wet plants intermittently cause attenuation to the system, which is minimized with the help
of forward error coding (FEC) technique
 The real deployment of the LAI assessment system involves various environmental and wild-life
challenges.
 Therefore, for reliable data delivery, the authors take the redundant approach of using both wired and
wireless connectivity.
 In the first deployment generation, USB power supply is used to power-up the sensors motes.
 Additionally, the USB is used for configuring the sensor board and accessing the failure as per
requirement. In this setup, a mechanical timer is used to switch off the sensor nodes during the night.
 In the second deployment generation, the cluster is formed with wireless connectivity.
 The ground sensor motes consist of external antennas, which help to communicate with the cluster
head.
 A Raspberry-Pi with long-term evolution (LTE) is used as a gateway in this system.
Communication
 The LAI system consists of multiple components, such as WSN, IoT gateway, and IoT based network.
 All of these components are connected through wired or wireless links.
 The public land mobile network (PLMN) is used to establish connectivity between external IoT
networks and the gateway.
 The data are analyzed and visualized with the help of a farm management information system (FMIS),
which resides in the IoT-based infrastructure.
 a prevalent data transport protocol: MQTT, is used in the system.
 MQTT is a very light-weight, publish/subscribe messaging protocol, which is widely used for different
IoT applications.
 The wireless LAN is used for connecting the cluster head with a gateway.
 The TelosB motes are based on the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol.
Software
 Software is an essential part of the system by which different operations of the system are executed.
 In order to operate the TelosB motes, TinyOS, an open-source, low-power operating system, is used.
 This OS is widely used for different WSN applications.
 Typically, in this system, the data acquired from the sensor node is stored with a timestamp and
sequence number (SN).
 For wired deployments (the first generation deployment), the sampling rate used is 30 samples/hour.
 However, in the wireless deployment (the second generation), the sampling rate is significantly reduced
to 6 samples/hour.
 The TinyOS is capable of activating low-power listening modes of a mote, which is used for switching
a mote into low-power mode during its idle state.
 In the ground sensor, TelosB motes broadcast the data frame, and the cluster head (Raspberry-Pi)
receives it. This received data is transmitted to the gateway.
 Besides acquiring ground sensor data, the Raspberry-Pi works as a cluster head.
 In this system, the cluster head can re-boot any affected ground sensor node automatically.
IoT Architecture
 The MQTT broker runs in the Internet server of the system.
 This broker is responsible for receiving the data from the WSN.
 In the system, the graphical user interface (GUI) is built using an Apache server.
 The visualization of the data is performed at the server itself.
 Further, when a sensor fails, the server informs the users.
 The server can provide different system-related information to the smartphone of the registered user.

 Apache is responsible for accepting directory (HTTP) requests from Internet users and sending
them their desired information in the form of files and Web pages. Much of the Web's software and
code is designed to work along with Apache's features.
Smart irrigation management system
 In precision agriculture, the regular monitoring of different agricultural parameters , such as water level,
soil moisture, fertilizers, and soil temperature are essential.
 for monitoring these agricultural parameters, a farmer needs to go to his/her field and collect the data.
 Excess water supply in the agricultural field can damage the crops. On the other hand, insufficient water
supply in the agricultural field also affects the healthy growth of crops.
 Efficient and optimized water supply in the agricultural field is essential.
 This case study highlights a prototype of an irrigation management system , developed at the Indian
Institute of Technology Kharagpur, funded by the Government of India.
 The primary objective of this system is to provide a Web-based platform to the farmer for managing the
water supply of an irrigated agricultural field.
 The system is capable of providing a farmer-friendly interface by which the field condition can be
monitored.
 With the help of this system, a farmer can take the necessary decision for the agricultural field based on the
analysis of the data.
 However, the farmer need not worry about the complex background architecture of the system.
 It is an affordable solution for the farmers to access the agricultural field data easily and remotely.
Architecture
 The architecture of this system consists of three layers: Sensing and actuating layer, remote processing
and service layer, and application layer.
 These layers perform dedicated tasks depending on the requirements of the system.
 The detailed functionalities of different layers of this system are as follows:
Sensing and Actuating  This layer deals with different physical devices, such as sensor nodes,
layer: actuators, and communication modules.
 In the system, a specially designated sensor node works as a cluster head to
collect data from other sensor nodes, which are deployed on the field for
sensing the value of soil moisture and water level.
 A cluster head is equipped with two communication module: ZigBee (IEEE
802.15.4) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).
 The communication between the deployed sensor nodes and the cluster head
takes place with the help of ZigBee.
 the cluster heads use GPRS to transmit data to the remote server.
 An electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),
integrated with the cluster head, stores a predefined threshold value of water
levels and soil moisture.
 When the sensed value of the deployed sensor node drops below this
predefined threshold value, a solenoid (pump) activates to start the irrigation
process.
 In the system, the standard EC-05 soil moisture sensor is used along with the
water level sensor, which is specifically designed and developed for this
project.
 A water level sensor is shown in Figure 12.6(a).
Processing and  This layer acts as an intermediate layer between the sensing and actuating layer and the
Service layer: application layer.
 The sensed and process data is stored in the server for future use. Moreover,
 these data are accessible at any time from any remote location by authorized users.
 Depending on the sensed values from the deployed sensor nodes, the pump actuates to irrigate
the field.

Application  The farmer can access the status of the pump, whether it is in switch on/off, and the value of
layer: different soil parameters from his/her cell phone.
 This information is accessible with the help of the integrated GSM facility of the farmers’ cell
phone.
 Additionally, an LED array indicator and LCD system is installed in the farmers’ house. Using
the LCD and LED, a farmer can easily track the condition of his respective fields.
 Apart from this mechanism, a farmer can manually access field information with the help of a
Web-based application.
 The farmer can control the pump using his/her cell phone from a remote location.
Deployment
 The system has been deployed and experimented in two agricultural fields:
 (i) an agricultural field at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur), India, and
 (ii) Benapur, a village near IIT Kharagpur, India.
 Both the agricultural fields were divided into 10 equal sub-fields of 3x3m 2.
 In order to examine the performance, the system was deployed at over 4 sub-fields.
 Each of these sub-fields consists of a solenoid valve, a water level sensor, and a soil moisture sensor,
along with a processing board.
 On the other hand, the remaining six sub-fields were irrigated through a manual conventional irrigation
process.
 The comparison analysis between these six and four fields summarily reports that the designed
system’s performance is superior to the conventional manual process of irrigation.