Introduction to Internet of Things

The IoT can be viewed as a global infrastructure for the information society, enabling advanced services by interconnecting (physical and virtual) things based on existing and evolving

interoperable information and communication technologies (ICT).

Characteristics of IoT

Interconnectivity: With regard to the IoT, anything can be interconnected with the global information and communication infrastructure.

Heterogeneity: The devices in the IoT are heterogeneous as based on different hardware platforms and networks. They can interact with other devices or service platforms through different networks.

Dynamic changes: The state of devices change dynamically, e.g., sleeping and waking up, connected and/or disconnected as well as the context of devices including location and speed. Moreover, the number of devices can change dynamically.

Features of IoT:

There are following features of IoT:

Communicating objects based on internet technologies
Detection, identification and location of physical objects
Communication through connectivity
Every physical object must be equipped with an IPv6-address.

Some real world Example of IoT Application:

1. Smart Cities

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers new opportunities for cities to use data to manage traffic, make better use of infrastructure and keep citizens safe. The objective of Smart city would be to use technology to offer services that are intelligent, advanced, affordable and accessible.

2. Smart Home

In smart home, all necessary things like switches, lights, AC (all electronic equipments) are controlled by Mobile application or Personnel computer. This technology provides homeowners security, comfort, convenience and energy efficiency by allowing them to control smart devices, often by a smart home app on their smartphone or other networked devices.

3. Healthcare

The internet of things has numerous applications in healthcare, from remote monitoring to smart sensors and medical device integration. The body functions monitoring sensors are connected to the network to update the doctor or the hospital about the patient’s real-time status like heart beat status or liver functioning etc. Also in the critical situations an ambulance can be called automatically.

4. Agriculture

Applications of IoT in Agricultural systems are very useful for the formers. It helps in checking of soil moisture, nutrient and PH levels in the field. It also helps in weather forecasting, water requirement for crops etc. A system is built for monitoring the crop field with the help of sensors (light, humidity, temperature, soil moisture, etc.). The realtime data about the soil and crop status is being monitored by the farmer like the farmer gets a notification about watering the crops etc.