IoT, or the Internet of Things, has become a catchphrase in recent years, but it is much more than that. Significant progress has been made in this sector in a very short period of time, both in terms of hardware and software.
This has enabled the creation of a wide range of new experiences for usage in both residential and corporate settings. You can even find the best IoT courses online to add-in to your skillset.
What is the Internet of Things?
Even though it appears simple, the Internet of Things has numerous moving parts that must all operate together. To make the IoT implementation operate successfully, all of these moving parts must work together.
The IoT architecture defines the physical components, network functional structure and configuration, operational procedures, and data formats.
The four pillars of a sustainable Internet of Things ecosystem are functionality, scalability, availability, and maintainability. Scalability is crucial since the system must expand with the organization or project.
The Three Layers of IoT Architecture
The most basic and frequently accepted model is a three-layer architecture. It was originally used during the early stages of research on the Internet of Things.
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Perception
This is the physical layer of the architecture. Sensors and connected devices can gather data in various volumes depending on the project’s requirements. Devices that interact with their environment might be considered edge devices.
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Network
These gadgets’ data must be sent and analyzed. That’s the network layer’s job. It connects them to other smart things, computers, and networks. It also handles data transfer.
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Application
The app layer communicates with the user. Its job is to provide application-specific services to the user. This might be a smart home implementation where customers press a button to turn on a coffee maker.
The 4 Stages of IoT Architecture
The four key steps mentioned below are critical to the overall feasibility of an IoT installation.
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Connected Objects
An implementation of the Internet of Things would not be possible without the presence of linked or “smart” items. Wireless sensors or actuators can be used. They respond to their surroundings and make the data they collect available for examination.
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Internet Gateway
When the sensors bring in data, it must be gathered and transformed into digital form before it can be processed. This is made possible by the second layer of the IoT architecture. It simply prepares the data for processing.
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Edge IT Systems
The third level of IoT architecture incorporates data pre-processing and sophisticated analytics. These tasks are performed by edge IT systems. Because IoT devices generate a lot of data and hence demand a lot of bandwidth, these Edge IT solutions help relieve the main IT infrastructure.
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Cloud Storage and Data Centers
Data storage is a key element of an IoT design since the data must be saved for subsequent in-depth analysis. It also aids in follow-up revision for comments. In IoT deployments, cloud storage is the chosen storage technique. Get upskilled & job-ready with these best electrical engineering courses from experts.