What is IoT Ecosystem? Discover Its Components and the $6 Trillion Impact!

 

Google Trends shows that "IoT," as an idea, has seen steadily increasing interest over recent years.

A Statista poll recently demonstrated this phenomenon by finding 173 Million Smartwatches are expected to ship by 2022, an indicator of its surging growth. Together with Big Data technologies, such as IoT, are two essential technologies business leaders use to expand and manage resources more effectively for growth purposes.

Ecosystem is the collective term for complex systems composed of interdependent parts interacting within their environment, making up what we know today as ecosystems.

All components in an ecosystem are interdependent through energy flows and cycles (such as photosynthesis).

Their connection with their environments plays an integral part in an ecosystem, distinguishing it from systems. Systems are complex entities, while an ecosystem connects more closely to its surrounding environment.

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What is the Internet of Things (IoT), and What Does It Mean?

 

The term "Internet of Things" (IoT) describes a network of interconnected computers, mechanical or digital machinery, objects, or people that have individual identifying tags.

An object capable of transmitting data across an open network can be considered a "thing."

IoT technology is becoming integral to modern business goals across numerous industries to increase efficiency, deliver improved customer experiences and make better decisions.

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What is the Internet of Things?

 

IoT ecosystems consist of web-enabled devices equipped with sensors, processors, and communication hardware to gather environmental data for analysis in either localized form or uploaded directly to cloud services for global processing and analysis.

Sensor data collected is shared among IoT devices via an IoT gateway or edge device and sent for further examination either locally or via cloud processing; communication occurs among devices which take action based on what information they receive - these may take different actions depending on whether data has already been sent there - they also interact among themselves allowing users to set them up, give instructions or gain access to their data storage solutions - but these devices operate largely independently without human involvement - through interaction still occurs between IoT devices themselves and humans by setting them up, giving instructions or accessing this valuable source of data collection.

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Why is IoT So Important?

 

The Internet of Things enables individuals and businesses to live smarter lives, taking back control over their daily routines.

IoT devices make homes smarter while giving businesses insight into how their systems perform, from machine performance monitoring to supply chain and logistics operations.

IoT allows companies to automate processes and reduce costs through automation and reduced operating expenses.

Furthermore, this technology reduces waste while improving service, making manufacturing and delivery more cost-effective, and offering transparency for customer transactions. IoT technology has quickly become one of the cornerstones of modern life. It will likely only continue its rise as more businesses recognize how vital connected devices can be for improving their competitive edge.

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What Are the Advantages of IoT for Organizations?

 

Some benefits are specific to certain industries, while others are common across all industries.

IoT benefits include:

1. Monitor their entire business process in general
2. Enhance the customer experience (CX)
3. Save time and money
4. increase productivity in the workforce
5. Adapt and integrate business models
6. Make wiser business choices.
7. Increase your revenue.

IoT gives businesses the tools to reimagine their business models and enhance their strategies.

IoT technology finds its greatest impact in manufacturing, transportation, and utility industries, where organizations utilize sensors and IoT devices as part of their daily work operations.

IoT technology in agriculture can make life simpler for farmers.

Sensors collect information regarding rainfall, humidity, and temperature, which can then be used to automate farming methods. IoT provides infrastructure monitoring capabilities. Sensors could, for instance, detect changes or events within structures like bridges, buildings, and other infrastructure - with potential time savings, cost reduction benefits, improved workflow quality, and paperless workflow being realized due to IoT usage.

Home automation companies may use IoT for monitoring and controlling mechanical and electrical systems within buildings; smart cities use IoT technology to reduce wasteful usage and energy waste.

IoT (Internet of Things) technology impacts industries across all spectrums - healthcare, retail, finance, and manufacturing.

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What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of IoT Technology?

 

The following are some of the benefits of IoT:

1. Access to information on any device, anywhere, at any time.
2. Improved communication between electronic devices connected.
3. Transferring data packets across a network saves time and mone.
4. Automating tasks can improve the services of an organization and reduce the need for humans to intervene.

The following are some of the disadvantages associated with IoT:

1. Hackers are more likely to steal information as the number of devices connected increases.
2. Enterprises will eventually use the IoT to manage millions of devices. Collecting and managing data from these devices is a challenge.
3. All devices connected to the system may be corrupted if there is a bug.
4. It's hard for IoT devices to communicate because there is no standard for IoT compatibility.

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IoT Standards And Frameworks

 

There are many emerging IoT Standards, including:

1. Internet engineering task force has issued an open standard for IPv6 compatibility on “low-power wireless personal area Networks” (6LoWPAN). This standard permits any low-powered radio, such as 804.15.4, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Z-Wave home automation, to connect directly with the Internet.
2. ZigBee is a wireless network with low power requirements and data rate rates designed for industrial environments. It uses IEEE 802.15.4 standard as its backbone. Dotdot, developed by The ZigBee Alliance, allows smart objects to communicate on any network securely.
3. LiteOS is an operating system (OS) similar to Unix, designed specifically for wireless sensor networks. LiteOS' versatility extends across smartphones, wearables, intelligent manufacturing applications, homes, IoV (Internet of Cars) networks, and devices connected through IoV networks - creating an ideal platform for smart device development.
4. OneM2M provides device-to-device communication between machines. This can be integrated with software or hardware solutions. OneM2M was established as an international standardization body to develop reusable standards for Internet of Things applications across various vertical markets.
5. Object management group designed data distribution service as an IoT standard that facilitates high-performance m2m communications in real-time.
6. Advanced message queuing protocol, or AMQP, is an open-source standard for secure messaging over wire. Amqp facilitates secure communications among applications and organizations while serving client/server messaging and IoT services device control applications.
7. CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol) was devised by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to define how low-powered and compute-constrained devices may operate over the Internet of Things.
8. Long Range Wide Area Network (LRWAN) is an advanced protocol specifically developed for wide area networks (WANs) designed to support massively connected environments like smart cities with millions of low-power devices.

IoT frameworks are comprised of the following:

1. Amazon Web Services IoT (AWS IoT) is an IoT cloud computing system created by Amazon specifically tailored for smart devices to interact securely and seamlessly with AWS and any connected devices.
2. Arm IoT provides an IoT development platform based on Arm microcontrollers. Arm Mbed IoT integrates mbed tools and services for IoT development into an open, scalable, secure environment to facilitate application creation.
3. Microsoft Azure IoT Suite provides an integrated platform of services that enable users to receive and interact with data generated by IoT devices, perform operations such as multidimensional analyses, transformations, and aggregations on this data, and visualize these operations.
4. Google Brillo/Weave provides an IoT application development platform for rapid deployment. Comprised two major elements - Brillo (an Android-based OS for creating low-power embedded devices) and Weave (an Internet of Things communication protocol that bridges the device and the cloud). - Brillo: an Android OS designed for creating low-power embedded devices
5. Calvin from Ericsson is an open-source IoT platform that enables software developers and device manufacturers to develop distributed apps that connect devices through communications protocols. Calvin provides a framework for application creators and runtime services to run these applications effectively.

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IoT For Consumers And Enterprises

 

Internet of Things applications span from consumer IoT through enterprise IoT and manufacturing/industrial IoT applications in various vertical markets like automotive, telecom and energy.

Smart homes - complete with heating, lighting, and electronic devices connected via WiFi or cable - can be managed remotely using computers and smartphones by consumers in the consumer segment.

Wearable devices with sensors and software can collect, analyze, and send user data to other technologies for greater ease in daily life and comfort.

Such wearable devices may even help public safety - for instance, by optimizing routes or tracking vital signs at potentially risky worksite sites for first responders in emergencies. IoT in healthcare brings many advantages, including closer monitoring of patients through analysis-generated data and more efficient inventory control for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment in hospitals.

Sensors that measure the number of people present can significantly lower energy consumption.

Temperature can be adjusted automatically; for instance, if they detect that all employees have left, the air conditioner can automatically turn on. At the same time, otherwise, its heat level could decrease automatically. Internet-of-Things-enabled smart farming systems enable farmers to monitor the light, temperature, humidity, and soil moisture conditions for crops using sensors connected to the Internet.

IoT analytics also plays an integral part in automated irrigation systems. Smart cities can benefit greatly from IoT sensors, smart meters, and streetlights that utilize IoT technologies such as IoT sensors to reduce traffic volumes, save energy consumption costs, monitor environmental concerns, and enhance sanitary standards.

Related:- How digital technologies like IOT revolutionizing the manufacturing sector

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IoT Privacy and Security Issues

 

Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of billions of devices connected to the Internet that share billions of data points - all needing protection due to an expanded attack surface.

As with any complex system, its security remains paramount, and IoT security poses one of the greatest challenges.

Mirai was one of the largest IoT attacks ever witnessed in 2016. A botnet gained entry through IoT devices that weren't properly secured and took down multiple websites with its DDoS attack, known as Mirai.

Attackers gained network access by exploiting unprotected IoT devices, which provided easy network entry points for attackers. Hackers only need one vulnerability exploited to make all data unusable from interconnected IoT devices, and cybercriminals may target devices not regularly or at all updated by manufacturers.

Connected devices also solicit personal data from users, including names, ages and addresses, phone numbers, and social media profiles such as Facebook or Twitter accounts and phone numbers from users - information that hackers would find extremely valuable.

Privacy concerns of IoT users have long been paramount, with hackers, not the only potential danger. Companies producing and distributing consumer IoT devices could use them to collect and sell personal data belonging to users.

IoT threatens critical infrastructures like electricity, transportation, and financial services.

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IoT Ecosystem Components

 

An IoT eco-system contains smart devices, sensors, and third-party components that connect via intranet or Internet to compute engines or cloud instances through compute engines or cloud instances.

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1. IoT Devices

Sensors, actuators, and smart objects are IoT devices that collect and measure environmental data.

1. As previously discussed, sensors and actuators form the cornerstones of the Internet of Things ecosystem.
2. Sensors are at the core of IoT systems. Their main role is transforming environmental data into usable forms for further processing by systems.

No single type of sensor or actuator exists within the Internet of Things ecosystem; rather, there are various kinds of sensors with their subcategories.

Here, we will outline two of the most crucial and popular sensors to help improve Earth's environmental state.

1. Temperature sensors are some of the most widely used and ubiquitous, used by various industries across sectors to monitor machinery temperatures, continuously track patient temperatures, or observe soil condition changes.
   1. Subcategories Thermocouples (RTDs), Infrared sensors, etc.
2. Proximity Sensors These IoT devices have become immensely popular due to their potential energy-saving abilities in thousands of homes when no one is nearby.
   1. Subcategories include Photoelectric sensors and Ultrasonic Sensors.
3. Water Quality Sensors Pollutants in water bodies pose a considerable threat, making monitoring their quality an essential life function. Water Quality sensors help detect polluter sources immediately!
   1. Subcategories: residual chloride sensor, turbidity sensors, pH sensors.
4. Chemical sensors These sensors measure chemical changes in the air. This monitoring is especially vital in large cities with ever-increasing pollution levels. Still, chemical sensors can also be used for industrial environmental monitoring and hazardous chemical or radioactive detection.
   1. Subcategories include Hydrogen Sulfide sensor, Potentiometric sensor, and Chemical Field Effect Transistor.

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   The Security of Your Own Home

This component houses all other elements, secures data transfers, and prevents unauthorized connections.DDoS attacks utilizing IoT have seen a dramatic rise in recent years.

Therefore, every IoT system must feature high levels of protection to address at least the most prevalent vulnerabilities.

The security level has many responsibilities

1. Access control of an IoT Network: Anyone connecting to the network can access all devices, making authentication issues particularly severe. IoT devices may trust their local network so that no additional authentication may be needed for IoT devices themselves.
2. Protecting data when transmitted over networks requires encryption using AES DES DSA protocols.
3. Search for malicious software. Software bugs could allow attackers to gain entry to IoT devices and execute code remotely, thus becoming vulnerabilities that must be patched immediately upon discovery. When this occurs, your software version should be updated as quickly as possible.

Many security and firmware providers also help safeguard the Internet of Things ecosystem, including Azure Sphere (firmware), LynxOS (security), Spartan (firmware), Forescout (firmware), and Symantec - among many more.

Unfortunately, many Internet of Things vendors and device makers should pay greater heed to basic security standards.

1. It is important to protect the device booting process from unsuitable code.
2. All commands must be executed using cryptographic keys. It is important to manage IoT updates.
3. All commands and control data must be routed through a gateway to avoid direct access outside the network.
4. Every IoT device must be updated with security patches when a new vulnerability is discovered.

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3. Network

Network connectivity forms an integral component of IoT systems. It should never be underestimated as being essential to its successful operation.

Networks play an integral part in providing communications among smart objects, between IoT stages and to third-party apps and services; connecting smart objects between themselves; transmitting data between stages or connecting third-party services with IoT; and linking to third-party clone servers if applicable.

There are two ways to communicate:

1. Initial communication occurs locally within a local network (LAN) between IoT gateways and devices over short-range wireless protocols. However, this connection method may be optional since sensors may directly access cloud infrastructure using TCP/IP protocol.

The devices will consume less power if they connect via non-IP protocols instead of trying to reach the main servers in the cloud.

The most popular protocols for IoT architecture include:

1. Wireless Internet Access (WiFi).
2. Bluetooth Low Energy (or LE) is a low-power Bluetooth technology that transmits less data.
3. ZigBee is a universal technology that connects smart devices.
4. Near Field Communication (NFC).
5. Radio Frequency Identification System (RFID).
6. Sigfox
7. LoRaWAN

Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) are designed to transfer wireless data over long distances.

1. The second communication mode occurs when data from devices is transmitted directly into the cloud without using an intelligent gateway. A network layer acts as the link between local networks and the Internet using IPv6, making connections more reliable

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4. Gateways

IoT Gateways are physical or virtual platforms that mediate between IoT devices and the cloud.

IoT gateways have several functions:

1. Controlling data flow within an Internet of Things ecosystem. Data can move freely between devices and the cloud via a gateway.
2. Assuring both receiving and sending of information securely. Communicate commands to IoT devices directly from the cloud.
3. Gateways aggregate, filter, synthesize, and aggregate traffic from multiple devices before sending it into the cloud.
4. IoT devices must be energy efficient as internet communications require considerable energy consumption; low energy technologies like Bluetooth Low Energy offer alternatives with significant energy efficiency benefits for healthcare, fitness, beacon, and security industries.
5. Reduce response time for IoT devices. Some devices need a system response in real time.

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5. The Cloud

Cloud computing provides an accessible online service for storing, analyzing, and managing data.

This cloud resource is a network of computers accessed remotely for specific uses.Cloud computing provides the platform where raw sensor data can be transformed into useful insights, with analytics software, visualization tools, and AI/machine learning capabilities to analyze it further and process it in depth. Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services IoT are the top cloud providers. Unsurprisingly, one of the chief advantages of cloud solutions lies in their capacity for scaling.

Scalability is vital when building effective IoT applications.

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6. Approval

Software development companies will develop products for an IoT ecosystem that integrate all seven elements.

Each level in this complex ecosystem must meet certain standards to function optimally, which the software development services companies will take care of meeting.

Even so, IoT applications are only the tip of the iceberg regarding IoT software.

A user can interact with an IoT ecosystem via an application's graphic user interface, through which users can control systems and devices, consult reports, and manage devices.

The technologies that were used to develop the product include:

1. Programming Languages: C/C++ (C/C++), Python, Ruby, JavaScript
2. Third-party APIs: Google Assistant (Actions On Google), Google Home, Apple HomeKit. MI Light, Cortana. Alexa Voice Service. Philips Hue. Android Things.

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7. Users

The Internet of Things ecosystem is dominated by its users.

Users have two roles here:

1. The IoT ecosystem is being utilized by healthcare facilities to meet their needs. With its limitless capabilities and valuable resource potential, the Internet of Things provides invaluable services. Sensors and IoT apps enable providers to measure patient biometrics better, allowing more precise diagnosis.
2. Second, Internet of Things ecosystems must serve people. And provide information that assists in reaching their goals. An IoT ecosystem that meets people's needs was created by and for them; its users decide what activities it performs or doesn't perform.

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The Conclusion of the Article is:

This article presented an IoT ecosystem's high-level architecture and global providers offering end-to-end IoT ecosystems and their respective standards and ecosystems in the industry landscape.

However, their definition remains to be studied further based on target industry goals, type of use case, budget considerations, etc. - a balance must exist between expectations and engagement when looking at an Industrial IoT solution.