Internet of things refer to a concept in which objects(things) share or exchange information with other objects connected to or in a way similar to internet.
As per Gartner research there were 2.5 billion connected devices in 2009; most of these were mobile phones, PCs and tablets. In 2020, there will be over 30 billion devices connected, of far greater variety and hence referred to as things.
Few Use cases to understand the concept:
Home automation: User can control the lights at home from anywhere using internet or configure them to switch Off or On based on the intensity of light in home. You can switch Off or On any connected home device like AC or heater before reaching home using your smartphone or computer. A fridge can automatically detect the milk level in the bottle and can place an order for it online based on it.Smoke detector if detects a fire can automatically turn off appliances,send instructions to automatic windows to open,informs the owner and Fire department by sending SMS,email or call.
Health Care: Devices can be connected to the human body and can perform health related measurements and send that over the net to the concerned person/doctor.Some examples; A wrist band in the hand can measure the body temperature and heartbeat and send it to the doctor or concerned person if it is not normal. A specially designed medicine box can inform the patient with a sound and concerned person using internet if the medicine is not picked in the defined time duration. Location aware devices when attached can relay the current location of those people suffering with serious ailments. In years to come we will see miniature devices which will reside inside body to measure key parameters which can help in saving lives.
Smart City: Bus stops can provide the current location of the buses and expected time they will take to reach. Sensors placed strategically can measure traffic, noise, pollution etc and can be used for planning. Dustbin can automatically detect using sensor when they are nearing to full level and can inform the Municipal Van for collection thus increasing the efficiency. Users can send the feedback to the government using the connected devices placed at various locations.
Human Interface for Configuration and Reporting: An interface such as web interface can be provided to user for controlling and getting information from the devices.Various aspects like frequency at which data is to be monitored or sent,to which entities data need to be sent, Events to monitor etc can be configured.
Data Capture using Sensors: These devices capture data typically using sensors.There are wide variety(100s) of sensors which can measure actual or change in light intensity, Pressure, Sound, Proximity, Motion Detection, Environmental measurements, temperature etc. Once the data is captured, it is transferred to Cloud or web-server using internet. These devices can be directly or indirectly connected to internet. Indirect means number of devices can be connected to one main device which is the only device connected to internet.
Machine to Machine (M2M): M2M a form of IoT means machine to machine communication without human intervention using wired or wireless interface. One example of this is Electricity Smart Meters.These meters can transmit various information from the Meter like meter reading, usage pattern etc to the provider using the internet/LAN or using wireless.For the wireless mode we can think about them as devices having mobile like capability for sending data. Provider can also provide useful information to the user about the peak hour timings/Rate.
Data Analysis: Data generated by these devices can provide valuable insights and often makes a case for Big-Data Analytics. With billions of connected devices in the coming future, IoT with the help of Analytics can help solve lot of problems.
Data Security: Data Security is an important concern and challenge for the Internet of things. Data which is sent on internet is prone to hacking. Sensors deployed at the public places can capture personal data related to passerby like phone number, IP address, time of visit, time spent at a particular area etc.
Protocols/Technology Used: List of protocols and technologies used is huge and will increase with time because of scale and diversity of use cases. Technologies range from Web/Cloud technologies to Access technologies. Some of the access protocols used are Bluetooth, Wifi, NFC, ZigBee, Wimax, Cellular (2G/3G/LTE). More details on this can be found at http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-protocols
Arduino( For IoT Prototyping): Arduino is a single board micro-controller which can be programmed to do multiple tasks and can be used for making IoT prototypes.It is an open source electronics prototyping platform. Multiple sensors can be attached to Arduino which in turn can provide interface to internet or computer for transmitting and receiving data. Cost of Arduino board is around 30$ and is used for multiple use-case scenarios. Check more details on Arduino at http://arduino.cc/ . Other platforms which support IoT are Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone and ARM Mbed . For those Interested in developing apps for IoT, Wunderbar provides an easy to use interface/libraries along with detachable sensors and smart modules kit.