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ABSTRACT
The phrase Internet of Things (IoT) heralds a vision of the future Internet where
connecting physical things, from banknotes to bicycles, through a network will let
them take an active part in the Internet, exchanging information about themselves and
their surroundings. This will give immediate access to information about the physical
world and the objects in it—leading to innovative services and increase in efficiency
and productivity. This paper studies the state-of-the-art of IoT and presents the key
technological drivers, potential applications, challenges and future research areas in
the domain of IoT. IoT definitions from different perspective in academic and
industry communities are also discussed and compared.
INTRODUCTION
During the past few years, in the area of wireless communications and networking, a
novel paradigm named the Internet of Things (IoT) which was first introduced by
Kevin Ashton in the year 1998, has gained increasingly more attention in the
academia and industry [1]. By embedding short-range mobile transceivers into a wide
array of additional gadgets and everyday items, enabling new forms of
communication between people and things, and between things themselves, IoT
would add a new dimension to the world of information and communication.
Unquestionably, the main strength of the IoT vision is the high impact it will have on
several aspects of every-day life and behaviour of potential users. From the point of
view of a private user, the most obvious effects of the IoT will be visible in both
working and domestic fields. In this context, assisted living, smart homes and offices,
e-health, enhanced learning is only a few examples of possible application scenarios
in which the new paradigm will play a leading role in the near future [2]. Similarly,
from the perspective of business users, the most apparent consequences will be
equally visible in fields such as automation and industrial manufacturing, logistics,
business process management, intelligent transportation of people and goods.
However, many challenging issues still need to be addressed and both technological
as well as social knots need to be united before the vision of IoT becomes a reality.
The central issues are how to achieve full interoperability between interconnected
devices, and how to provide them with a high degree of smartness by enabling their
adaptation and autonomous behaviour, while guaranteeing trust, security, and privacy
of the users and their data [3]. More-over, IoT will pose several new problems
concerning issues related to efficient utilization of resources in low-powered resource
constrained objects.
Several industrial, standardization and research bodies are currently involved in the
activity of development of solutions to fulfil the technological requirements of IoT.
The objective of this paper is to provide the reader a comprehensive discussion on the
current state of the art of IoT, with particular focus on what have been done in the areas of protocol, algorithm and system design and development, and what are the
future research and technology trends.
The rest of the report is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the vision of IoT.
Section 3 discusses enabling technologies of IoT. Section 4 presents some specific
applications of IoT in various industries. Section 5 presents a generic layered
architectural framework for IoT and various issues involved in different layers.
Section 6 identifies the key technologies involved in IoT. Section 7 presents some of
the challenges in deploying the concept of IoT in the real world, and Section 8 future
research areas in the domain of IoT and Section 9 concludes the report.
1.1 Definition
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a computing concept that describes a future where
everyday physical objects will be connected to the Internet and will be able to identify
themselves to other devices. The term is closely identified with RFID as the method
of communication, although it could also include other sensor technologies, other
wireless technologies, QR codes, etc.
In the context of “Internet of Things” a “thing” could be defined as a real/physical or
digital/virtual entity that exists and move in space and time and is capable of being
identified. Things are commonly identified either by assigned identification numbers,
names and/or location addresses.
The Internet of Things allows people and things to be connected Anytime, Anyplace,
with Anything and Anyone, ideally using Any path/network and Any service.
The Internet of Things implies a symbiotic interaction among the real/physical, the
digital/virtual worlds: physical entities have digital counterparts and virtual
representation; things become context aware and they can sense, communicate,
interact, exchange, data, information and knowledge.
VISION OF IOT
In the research communities, IoT has been defined from various different perspectives
and hence numerous definitions for IoT exist in the literature. The reason for apparent
fuzziness of the definition stems from the fact that it is syntactically composed of two
terms—Internet and things. The first one pushes towards a network oriented vision of
IoT, while the second tends to move the focus on generic objects to be integrated into
a common framework [2]. However, the terms ‘Internet’ and ‘things’, when put
together assume a meaning which introduces a disruptive level of innovation into the
ICT world. In fact, IoT semantically means a “world-wide network of interconnected
objects uniquely addressable, based on standard communication protocols” [4]. This
implies that a huge number of possibly heterogeneous objects are involved in the
process. In IoT, unique identification of objects and the representation and storing of
exchanged information is the most challenging issue. This brings the third perspective
of IoT—semantic perspective. In Fig. 1, the main concepts, technologies and
standards are highlighted and classified with reference to the three visions of IoT [2].
The diagram clearly depicts that IoT paradigm will lead to the convergence of the
three visions of IoT.
From the perspective of things, the focus of IoT is on how to integrate generic objects
into a common framework and the things under investigation are radio frequency
identification (RFID) tags. The term IoT, in fact, is attributed to the Auto-ID labs [5],
a world-wide network of academic research laboratories in the field of networked
RFID and emerging sensing technologies. These institutions, since their
establishment, have focussed their efforts to design the architecture of IoT integrated
with EPC global [6]. These efforts have been primarily towards development of the
electronic product code (EPC) to support the use of RFID in the world-wide modern
trading networks, and to create the industry-driven global standards for the EPC
global Network. These standards are mainly designed to improve object visibility
(i.e., the traceability of an object and the awareness of its status, current location etc.).
While, this is an important step towards the deployment of IoT, it makes the scope of
IoT much narrower. In a broader sense, IoT cannot be just a global EPC system in which the only objects are RFIDs. Similarly, unique/universal/ubiquitous identifier
(UID) architecture defined in [7] which attempts to develop middleware-based
solutions for global visibility of objects also narrows down the scope of IoT. An IoT
vision statement, which goes well beyond a mere RFID-centric approach, is proposed
by CASAGRAS consortium [8]. The CASAG-RAS consortium (i) proposes a vision
of IoT as a global infrastructure which connects both virtual and physical generic
objects and (ii) highlights the importance of including existing and evolving Internet
and network developments in this vision. From this perspective, IoT becomes the
natural enabling architecture for the deployment of independent federated ser-vices
and applications, characterized by a high degree of autonomous data capture, event
transfer, network connectivity and interoperability.
ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES
3.1. Energy:
This concern about low-power chipset having new and efficient and compact battery
cells like fuel cells, polymer batteries which can help in case of IoT.
3.2. Intelligence:
The devices should have capabilities of context awareness and inter-machine
communication.
3.3. Communication:
The devices should new, smart multi-frequency band antennas, integrated on-chip
and made of new materials that will enable the devices to communicate.
3.4. Integration:
Integration of smart devices into packaging, or better, into the products themselves
will allow a significant cost saving and increase the eco-friendliness of the products.
3.5. Interoperability:
It means communication of different protocols by using some protocol stack. Two
devices might not be interoperable even if they belong to same standards.
APPLICATIONS OF IOT
The potentialities offered by the IoT make it possible to develop numerous
applications based on it, of which only a few applications are currently deployed. In
future, there will be intelligent applications for smarter homes and offices, smarter
transportation systems, smarter hospitals, smarter enterprises and factories. In the
following subsections, some of the important example applications of IoT are briefly
discussed.
Aerospace and Aviation Industry
Internet of Things can help to improve safety and security of products and services by
reliably identifying counterfeit products and elements. The aviation industry, for
example, is vulnerable to the problem of suspected unapproved parts (SUP). An SUP
is an aircraft part that is not guaranteed to meet the requirements of an approved
aircraft part (e.g., counterfeits, which do not conform to the strict quality constraints
of the aviation industry). Thus, SUPs seriously violate the security standards of an aircraft. Aviation authorities report that at least 28 accidents or incidents in the United
States have been caused by counterfeits [21]. Apart from time-consuming material
analyses, verifying the authenticity of aircraft parts can be performed by inspecting
the accompanying documents, which can be easily forged. It is possible to solve this
problem by introducing electronic pedigrees for certain categories of aircraft parts,
which document their origin and safety-critical events during their lifecycle (e.g.,
modifications). By storing these pedigrees within a decentralized database as well as
on RFID tags, which are securely attached to aircraft parts, an authentication
(verification of digital signatures, comparison of the pedigree on RFID tags and
within the database) of these parts can be performed prior to installing them in an
aircraft. In this way, safety and operational reliability of aircrafts can be significantly
improved.
4.2 Automotive Industry
Advanced cars, trains, buses as well as bicycles are becoming equipped with
advanced sensors, actuators with increased processing powers. Applications in the
automotive industry include the use of smart things to monitor and report various
parameters from pressure in tires to proximity of other vehicles. Radio Frequency
Identification technology has already been used to streamline vehicle production,
improve logistics, increase quality control and improve customer services. The
devices attached to the parts contain information related to the name of the
manufacturer and when and where the product was made, its serial number, type,
product code, and in some applications the precise location in the facility at that
moment. Radio Frequency Identification technology provides real-time data in the
manufacturing processes, maintenance operations and offers new ways of managing
recalls more effectively. Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) technology
will possibly help in achieving higher bit rates and reducing interference with other
equipment. Vehicle-to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)
communications will significantly advance Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
applications such as vehicle safety services and traffic management and will be fully
integrated in the IoT infrastructure.
Telecommunications Industry
IoT will create the possibility of merging of diverse telecommunication technologies
and create new services. An illustrative example is the use of GSM, NFC (Near Field
Communication), low power Bluetooth, WLAN, multi-hop networks, GPS and sensor
networks together with SIM-card technology. In these types of applications the reader
(i.e., tag) is a part of the mobile phone, and different applications share the SIM-card.
NFC enables communications among objects in a simple and secure way just by
having them close to each other. The mobile phone can therefore be used as a NFC
reader and transmit the read data to a central server. When used in a mobile phone, the
SIM-card plays an important role as storage for the NFC data and authentication
credentials (like ticket numbers, credit card accounts, ID information etc). Things can
join networks and facilitate peer-to-peer communication for specialized purposes or to
increase robustness of communications channels and networks. Things can form ad
hoc peer-to-peer networks in disaster situations to keep the flow of vital information
going in case of telecommunication infrastructure failures.
4.4 Medical and Healthcare Industry
IoT will have many applications in the healthcare sector, with the possibility of using
the cell phone with RFID-sensor capabilities as a platform for monitoring of medical
parameters and drug delivery. The advantage gained is in prevention and easy
monitoring of diseases, ad hoc diagnosis and providing prompt medical attention in
cases of accidents. Implantable and addressable wireless devices can be used to store
health records that can save a patient’s life in emergency situations, especially for
people with diabetes, cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, cognitive impairments, seizure disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.
Edible, biodegradable chips can be introduced into human body for guided actions.
Paraplegic persons can have muscular stimuli delivered via an implanted smart thing
controlled electrical simulation system in order to restore movement functions.
Independent Living
IoT applications and services will have an important impact on independent living by
providing support for an aging population by detecting the activities of daily living
using wearable and ambient sensors, monitoring social interactions using wearable
and ambient sensors, monitoring chronic disease using wearable vital signs sensors,
and in body sensors. With emergence of pattern detection and machine learning
algorithms, the things in a patient’s environment would be able to watch out and care
for the patient. Things can learn regular routines and raise alerts or send out
notifications in anomaly situations. These services can be merged with the medical
technology services, mentioned in Sect. 5.4.
4.6 Pharmaceutical Industry
For pharmaceutical products, security and safety is of utmost importance. In IoT
paradigm, attaching smart labels to drugs, tracking them through the supply chain and
monitoring their status with sensors has many potential benefits. For example, items
requiring specific storage conditions, e.g. maintenance of a cool chain, can be
continuously monitored and discarded if conditions were violated during transport.
Drug tracking and e-pedigrees allow for the detection of counterfeit products and keep
the supply chain free of fraudsters. Counterfeiting is a common practice in this area as
illustrated in [22], and it particularly affects the developing countries. The smart
labels on the drugs can also directly benefit patients, e.g. by enabling storing of the
package insert, informing consumers of dosages and expiration dates, and assuring the
authenticity of the medication. In conjunction with a smart medicine cabinet that
reads information transmitted by the drug labels, patients can be reminded to take
their medicine at appropriate intervals and patient compliance can be monitored.
4.7 Retail, Logistics and Supply Chain Management
IoT can provide several advantages in retail and supply chain management (SCM)
operations. For example, with RFID-equipped items and smart shelves that track the
present items in real time, a retailer can optimize many applications [23]. For example, he can make automatic checking of goods receipt, real time monitoring of
stocks, tracking out-of-stocks or the detection of shoplifting. IoT can provide a large
savings potential in a retail store, since it has been found that 3.9% of sales loss
happens worldwide when shelves go empty and customers return with getting the
desired products [24]. Furthermore, IoT can help making the data from the retail store
available for optimizing the logistics of the whole supply chain. If manufacturers
know the stock and sales data from retailers, they can produce and ship the right
quantities of products, thus avoiding the situation of over-production or
underproduction. The logistic processes from supply chains in many industry sectors
can benefit from exchanging of RFID data. Moreover, environmental issues can be
better tackled. The carbon footprint of logistics and supply chain processes can be
optimized based on the availability of dynamic and fine-grained data collected in the
real world directly by some of the things of IoT, such as trucks, pallets, individual
product items etc. In the shops, IoT can offer many applications like guidance in the
shop according to a pre-selected shopping list, fast payment solutions like
automatically check-out using biometrics, detection of potential allergen in a given
product, personalized marketing, verification of the cool chain, etc. Commercial
buildings will also benefit from smart building functionalities.
4.8 Manufacturing Industry
By linking items with information technology, either through embedded smart devices
or through the use of unique identifiers and data carriers that can interact with an
intelligent supporting network infrastructure and information systems, production
processes can be optimized and the entire lifecycle of objects, from production to
disposal can be monitored. By tagging items and containers, greater transparency can
be gained about the status of the shop floor, the location and disposition of lots, and
the status of production machines. The fine grained information serves as input data
for refined production schedules and improved logistics. Self-organizing and
intelligent manufacturing solutions can be designed around identifiable items.