IoT refers to the Internet of things which is a system of objects which are interrelated (related or connected to each other) and inter-connected to each other through a wireless network and are able to transfer, collect and analyze data without any need for the human intervention in the process. It is basically an automated and digitalized system of information transfer and collection and completely deals with the data. One could say that IoT is all about the data.

The possibilities and scope of the IoT are countless. They vary both from the personal usage to enhancing the efficiency and capabilities of your business. They are seen in our daily lives as smart watches and health observers which connect the smart watches, biochips and other medical observation, supervision devices to our smart phones and our computers and continuously collect and transmit the related data to them. One of the prime examples of it are the fitness apps which track how many steps you have taken in your jog, or many meters did you run or even the monitoring of one’s heart beat rate. All of this is made possible through the IoT and its applications and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

            There are several commercial and business applications of the IoT as well. The monitoring of the livestock through a biochips, smart homes which are completely controllable through a simple app with your Smartphone allowing you complete control over the power appliances in your entire residence or even the automobiles equipped with various sensors which continuously collect the data and supply the driver with a myriad of information regarding his vehicle like the tire pressure, fuel warnings, maintenance of the engine or any other parts which are deteriorating.

            Basically, any object, appliance or machinery which is equipped with the necessary sensors and transmitter to both collect the data and transmit that data over a wireless network falls into the IoT.

            The businesses today are completely motivated by the IoT and its prospects and its applications. IoT can not only increase the revenue of a business, it also reduces the operational costs and increases the operational efficiency of a business. IoT devices provide constant and continuous insights into the streamlined workflow, visualize usage patterns, automate processes, meet compliance requirements, and compete more effectively in a changing business environment.

History

           IoT started with the public access of the internet and the global deployment of a satellite network over the whole planet in 1989. This laid the foundation of the communications systems for the whole globe and would become the base of the all the internet and web activities. In 1990s, the first ever IoT device was created by the John Romkey, which was a simple toaster connected to a computer through a TCP/IP protocol. This toaster connected to the internet became an inspiration for the IoT devices and how everyday appliances could be controlled without the need to physically operate them by human hands. This toaster is still considered the first ever IoT device in existence. Following the internet connected toaster, the University of Cambridge created the XCoffee machine in 1993 which provided the inspiration for the inspiration for the world’s first webcams. This inspiration is later realized by Steve Mann in 1994, who creates world’s first wearable internet connected camera. In 1998, the IPv6 is introduced to the world and in 1999 Kevin Ashton presents the world the well-known term, IoT (Internet of things) for all the internet connected appliances. From this point onwards, the innovations and the expansion in the IoT would begins to explode with a rapid pace. In year 2000, LG announces the world’s first internet enable refrigerator and the term “Internet of things” started appearing in the book titles. The first IoT international conference is held in 2008 and Google introduces the world’s first self-driving cars in 2009 which was a monumental achievement in the IoT industry as well as a break through point for the whole industry.

            Following the Google’s breakthrough, China picks IoT as its main industry to tackle its financial problems and the cycle of innovations in IoT begins here. Advanced smart glasses are created by Google in 2013 and the Global Standards Initiative is introduced for the Internet of Things in 2015.The IoT malware is detected in 2016 and IoT cyber security is introduced in the following year. From the following years, a myriad of advancements are made bringing us the IoT industry as we know it today.

How it Works

            IoT systems and resources are often not understood as how they actually work. They are often misunderstood with the literal meaning of the term with simple things but in reality, IoT resources are highly technical and confusing so it’s not easy to get a grasp over their working principles and how an IoT system actually works.

            A complete IoT system operates in four distinct components which are the Devices/sensors, connectivity of those devices, data processing from those devices and finally the user interface for the data to be displayed after being processed.

            The information collection devices or the sensors are the instruments which collect the information from their surrounding and transmit it to the system to be processed. These devices can be as simple as reading the temperature of a place to something as complex as a full video-feed. IoT systems employ these sensors or a full bundle of sensors to gather information. The sensors may not necessarily be standalone versions of gathering the information; they can also be a part of another device. A prime example of this is the smart phone which is equipped with a myriad of sensors but he phone itself is not a sensor. Whether it is a standalone sensor or a device equipped with them, the first step in any IoT system is the information gathering.

            The second component of the IoT system is the connectivity of those sensor devices which need to transmit their gathered data to the cloud and they need a way or a medium to send their data. This can be accomplished through a multitude of methods including the cellular network, Wifi, satellite coverage, Bluetooth, LPWAN or even connecting directly to the internet through Ethernet. All of these methods have their advantages and disadvantages in terms or power consumption, range and bandwidth depending on their application but no matter which method is used to transmit this data, they all accomplish the same task, that is to transfer the data to the cloud.

            Data processing in the cloud storage comes next. After the data has been successfully transferred to the cloud, the software processes that data to make to be displayed in the interface devices in a language and in terms which have been programmed to be displayed. This processing makes sure that the data received from the sensors is displayed in the interface in a way that the humans can easily understand without having the extensive knowledge of the processing software programming. This data is then processed and any abnormalities in the predefined system are detected. These abnormalities can be like the temperature of a device exceeding the safe and defined limits or an intruder captured in a video feed in your house or in the office. In case the abnormalities like these are detected, the last component is needed to take the action for the situation, i.e the user interface.

            The user-interface is how the user interacts with the whole IoT system. They can interact with it in the form of a simple display which shows all of the parameters of their devices to them or it can be in the form of an alert through a text message or an email or a notification alerting them to the abnormalities in their IoT system. This alert can inform them of the temperature going over the safe operational limits in their car engine or any other machinery or it can inform them that an unknown individual was detected in the parameter in the video feed. In some cases, the actions are performed automatically like readjusting the rising temperatures in a cold storage where the user has designated them to be in an automated mode, or they can adjust the temperature through their app or they can configure the video surveillance to alert the relevant authorities of the intruders or they can check the video feed themselves. It all depends on the user’s configuration and preferences of the system and the system will respond automatically to it.

What AMS-IoT Offers

            AMS IoT offers IoT services on par with the world’s best IoT Service providers. AMS IoT provides a combination of IoT technologies and services through their comprehensive and innovative IoT solutions. AMS IoT provides custom products solutions, hardware design, firmware development, embedded apps, IoT integration modules, remote monitoring, asset tracking as well as fleet management services which are all state of the art services and only one of their kind in the whole country.

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