Internet of Things - 101

The Internet as we know it is going to change. Today it is a global network which connects people. We use desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones to communicate with each other. Often the information we send around goes via servers which run web sites, email software, etc. Broadly speaking this means that the Internet is made up of people, client devices, and servers. A whole new category of actors is being added to the Internet. These new participants aren't people and have been unglamorous named as “things,” hence the term “Internet of Things.”

A “thing” can be almost any object with at least one sensor and a way to transmit data.  It won't be long, and it may have already happened, but there will be more things on the Internet sending data around than actual people using Internet enabled devices. The cell phone, the Internet, email, social media, and smartphones have all changed the way we do things, both at a personal level and at a business level. Clearly the Internet of Things will also affect our personal and professional lives, how exactly hasn’t yet been fully understood, but affect us it will.

CHALLENGES

There are several big challenges ahead for the embryonic Internet of Things. There are technological challenges in terms of the actual devices that collect and send data, these challenges include both hardware and software issues like battery life, maintenance, interoperability, and compatibility. There are big data issues around building systems that can process all of this data and use it to achieve meaningful tasks. There are also security and privacy problems.

In his speech the co-CEO also highlighted that the IoT experience needs to be seamless for the consumer. “We have to create an open IoT ecosystem,” said Yoon. “The IoT experience needs to be seamless.” To that end Yoon promised that all of Samsung’s products would be built on open platforms. “Our IoT components and devices will be open. We will ensure that others can easily connect to our devices,” Yoon said during his keynote. “Without this kind of openness, there won't be an Internet-of-Things.”

ARM

Towards the end of 2014, ARM announced a new operating system to boost the development of IoT devices. Called ‘mbed OS’, it is a free operating system for ARM’s Cortex-M range of microcontrollers. One of the key points about mbed OS is that it supports the important IoT protocols, and allows anyone from a hobbyist developer to a multiple-million dollar corporation to prototype and develop IoT devices. mbed OS will include all the functionality needed to create an IoT device and to transmit that data to the cloud. It supports lots of different communication stacks including IPv4, IPv6, 6LoWPAN, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 2G GSM, and 3G.

STRUCTURE

So what does the Internet of Things look like in terms of its structure? It is quite simple. At the “Thing” end you have small devices which monitor something. These devices transmit that data to another, more complex device. It could be a smartphone; it could be a control unit of some kind or it could be to a dedicated device that acts as a gateway to the Internet. This last category of device is known as an IoT Gateway. They are important because the sensors often don’t have a direct Internet connection. They probably only have Bluetooth or some other low power connectivity like ZigBee. Once the IoT gateway has received the data from the sensor it can be sent into the cloud.

SECURITY

With all these devices sending data and receiving commands it won’t be long before the hackers are drawn in. A recent security report from Intel’s McAfee Labs singled-out IoT as a potential area for security problems. The report says that IoT related attacks will increase rapidly due to the predicted fast growth in the number of connected objects, many of which will have poor levels of security.

CONCLUSION

All this technology sounds great for the consumer, but probably the big money is to be made on larger scale projects. Smart buildings, smart cities, and IoT enabled businesses are where the large contracts will be. The IoT revolution is really only just beginning and there will be lots of advancements over the next few years. How we arrive at the seamless IoT experience will be interesting to watch, and on the way I am sure we are going to see some great innovation from some surprising sources.