Technologies in the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is a network of smart devices who are aware of their surroundings. These devices achieve this awareness by constantly or eventually send/receive data with the connected devices. The user, on the other hand, can get access to these devices remotely. In some cases, these IoT devices can let the user perform things autonomously. For example, Tesla cars let the user drive it automatically and Robotic Vacuum Cleaner cleans the house without any master. These functionalities are only possible when these devices are connected and constantly learning about their surroundings. The connectivity is an integral part of these smart devices.

History tells us that the evolution of the Internet was not an easy task. Many standards came and went by before Internet started to converge towards a single most widely used standard. For example, there use to be many networks like ARPANET, UUCP, CYCLADES, NPL and many others before they started to converge under TCP/IP layer model which is now globally used as a standard. It was not before 1984 when CERN began the operation and implementation of TCP/IP as its basic computer networking scheme. The penetration of this new standard was seen in Asia when South Korea adopted TCP/IP communication model in 1982. Australia, on the other hand, was hesitant to adopt this new standard but later in 1989 Australia managed to get rid of their standards before forming AARNet (Australian Academic and Research Network) which provided a dedicated IPv4 based network throughout the country.

The devices in the Internet of Things are connected through one way or another. Sometimes a device can contain multiple modes of communication in order to perform multiple tasks. For example, a smart watch contains Bluetooth to communicate with the cell phone and Wi-Fi to talk directly to the Internet. Similarly, 2^nd Generation Chromecast provides Wi-Fi for local and the Internet connectivity and uses HDMI to connect the Television. In IoT, the emphasis is more towards the wireless standards to ensure portability. That is the reason why many experts consider the connectivity of smart devices to smartphones really important. Thus, special emphasis on the wireless technologies will be seen in this book.