One way of looking at the Internet of Things (IoT) is that it bridges the gap between the digital world and the physical world.
The Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
The things in the Internet of Things can be anything from a heart monitor implant or tire gauge sensor to a lightbulbÂ that can be switched on using a smartphone app or an animal with a biochip transponder.
In reality, the Internet of Things is exploding. It is made up of billions of smart devices from minuscule chips to mammoth machines that use wireless technology to talk to each other (and to us). Our IoT world is growing at a breathtaking pace, from 2 billion objects in 2006 to a projected 200 billion by 2020.Â That will be around 26 smart objects for every human being on Earth.
Ciscoâs outgoing CEO, John Chambers, boldly proclaimed that there will be 50 billion devices online within five years, with a total market worth $19 trillion. Another leader in this sphere, Siemens, has said these smart things are starting to power a fourth Industrial Revolution (after steam, electricity and wired computers).
The IoT has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS),Â microservicesÂ and the internet. The convergence has helped tear down the walls between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), enabling unstructured machine-generated data to be analyzed for insights to drive improvements.
But while the IoT projects great expectations, there are also holes that need to be filled. Perhaps the greatest challenge involves language. Smart home devices, for example, currently speak a mishmash of languages based on manufacturer programming. Some communicate in Bluetooth, others in ZigBee or Z-Wave, and still others in Wi-Fi.
This language barrier issue is particularly worrisome between smartphones and IoT devices of the future. The way it stands now, data being sent by sensors and devices might be unencrypted during communication and understood by third-parties.
Major players are working feverishly to develop standards and protocols that could act as de facto language. Qualcomm, for example, developed a platform called AllJoyn to act as a sort of universal translator for the industry.
However, experts say that because of the future enormity of the IoT it will be hard to come up with a one size fits all standard. Whatâs more likely to happen is there will be several communication standards that serve different purposes.
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Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Overview of IoT Connectivity Methods and Technologies
Â·Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Evaluation ofÂ IoT
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