Internet of Things (IoT) Connectivity
IoT is one of the fastest ways industries, governments, and individuals interact with technology. Internet of Things (IoT) Connectivity involves ordinary gadgets that are connected through specific networks for sending, receiving, and processing data via the internet without any human intervention. With billions of currently connected devices around the world, IoT is bound to be one of the most disruptive yet transformative technologies of our time.
IoT will continue to upend the way to live and work-be it smart homes with connected cars or automated industrial processes with smart city infrastructure. IoT is gaining much traction in India, especially in industries like manufacturing, agriculture, health, and transport, where IoT solutions are being adopted to lead to better productivity and efficiency and, more importantly, to better decision-making.
This article explains IoT Connectivity in detail and covers its architecture, key components, benefits, challenges, and future potential across various industries.
IoT connectivity consists of a few layers and components, which work altogether to provide seamless interoperation between devices. Basically, detailed understanding of various components is required for a broader view of the concept of IoT.
1. Sensors and Devices
The heart of any IoT system consists of sensors and devices that get in contact with the physical environment. The list of factors being measured by such sensors can include but is not limited to temperature, humidity, light level, motion, or even human health indicators like heart rate or glucose levels. Such sensors have to be embedded in devices connected to the Internet and may send the data to a central system for analysis.
Examples include wearables, thermostats, smart cameras, industrial machines, and medical equipment.
Functions: Data gathering, environmental monitoring, and triggering automated responses.
2. Network Connectivity
After collection by sensors, this information needs to be relayed to a central processing system. There are numerous connectivity options that IoT devices can make use of, based on the application of the technology, including:
Wi-Fi: This is common in homes and offices; good for local, short-range connectivity.
It is a cellular connectivity of different generations, from 2G/3G/4G/5G, suitable for wide-area connectivity, including those of vehicles and urban infrastructure.
LPWAN: Low Power Wide Area Network-optimized to support devices over a wider area in an energy-efficient way; therefore, it finds applications in Industrial IoT. Bluetooth and Zigbee: Generally used for devices with low power over very short distances, in home automation and wearable gadgets.
IoT Platforms:IoT platforms sit in between devices and the applications that will use the data, and most of them collect, store, and analyze the data coming from connected devices; in most cases, they provide real-time insights to the user. They also often come with device management capability, ensuring security and the ability to create automation upon predefined rules.
Examples: AWS IoT, Google Cloud IoT, Microsoft Azure IoT Hub.
Functions: Data aggregation, analytics, device management, integration with other systems.
Cloud and Edge Computing
The volumes of data from IoT devices in question explicitly demand high computational power. Cloud computing manages scalable and economic infrastructure to store and process data. On the other hand, edge computing introduces the processing of data right at the points of use or closer to the device, preferably at the “edge” of the network, which diminishes latency and response times, especially where delay intolerance is at stake.