The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of devices that incorporate various sensors and use the gathered data, processing it, and then sending it to other devices over the Internet. Many of us wear IoT devices – smartwatches, for example.
IoT sensors include various sensing modules, such as accelerometers, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, etc. They also include RF modules, which are responsible for radio communication, analog/digital converters, and so on.
The hardware alone wouldn't be able to solve any problems, of course; that's why programmers must code cleverly designed IoT software apps. To begin with, most IoT devices utilize low-power CPUs, and don't have enough room to accommodate plenty of RAM and storage space, so the coded applications must be very efficient, using as few bytes as possible and running as fast as possible.
Then, IoT software must be able to collect the data that is fed by the sensors, filter it, measure it, process it, store it locally and/or send it to other gadgets. And if several IoT devices must work together, the code will also ensure that device integration is fully supported. Wearable IoT devices make heavy use of real-time analytics, allowing people to determine the number of steps they're taking each day, for example. This means that the software must also include modules that offer data analysis in real time.
Near-Field Communication (NFC), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) are the most popular data communication technologies that are being used by Internet of Things devices.
With NFC, devices can communicate only if they are closer than 1.5 inches to each other. Popular applications include contactless payment systems, information sharing systems, keycards, etc.
RFID-based devices use electromagnetic fields to discover, and then track tags, which include electronically stored data and are attached to physical objects. Tags can be passive, when they use energy from a nearby RFID reader, or active, if they are powered by a battery.
Unlike classic Bluetooth, BLE was built with the goal of reducing power consumption to a minimum, while trying to preserve a similar coverage. Most popular operating systems already provide support for Bluetooth Low Energy, and this makes it easy to connect computers and mobile devices to the IoT gadgets that utilize BLE.
LPWAN can achieve impressive results by making use of a very low data transmission rate, which can be as low as 0.3 kbps. The operating range of the Low-Power Wide-Area Network technology can easily reach five miles in urban areas, and batteries can last for more than 10 years.
IoT devices help improve data collection, enhance various technologies and reduce waste. Governments use them to track air and water pollution, for example. Manufacturers use them to respond dynamically, without wasting time, to new market demands. Regular people use them for entertainment-related purposes, to stay healthy, and to conserve energy. Marketers use them to learn more about their customers' buying habits, preferences, etc. And the list goes on and on.
It's true that data security and privacy can be an issue, though. And since we don't have a central IoT standard, many devices continue to use custom data exchange protocols, proprietary technologies, and so on. Let's hope that things will change for the better within the next few years, though.