This technical description will introduce you to the concept of the Internet of Things and define this term and its peculiarities. It is possible to observe that the Internet of Things (IoT) is the process of connecting various technical objects, which are used in the everyday life, into a holistic communication network. Rose, Eldridge, and Chapin (2015) define the IoT as “scenarios where network connectivity and computing capability extends to objects, sensors and everyday items not normally considered computers” (p. 1). By the means of this process, these objects are able to generate and exchange data without human intervention.
Generally speaking, what the IoT does is that it makes the processing of information less difficult, and thus it creates a more diversified and comprehensive informational environment, which enhances the overall technical progress. Practically, this goal is achieved by developing a unified framework that enables heterogeneous technologies to exchange datasets. Arguably, the best example that would help to acquire the understanding of the IoT’s practical importance is that the technology of “smart houses” is based upon the use of the Internet of Things.
Naturally, due to the fact that the IoT operates various electronic devices through contemporary communication technologies such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, it is not possible to see what the process looks like. The majority of the IoT working cycle happens when different devices generate and share datasets. From the perspective of the user of the IoT, the result of the work of such systems is available, as he or she is provided with the gathered information in its final form.
Further, it is essential to describe how the IoT works so that readers would understand the entirety of the process. There are different perspectives on the categorization of the IoT-related processes; however, to simplify the initial explanation, it is possible to observe that there are three principal operational levels of the IoT architecture: hardware, middleware, and presentation. The hardware level refers to the vast variety of electronic devices, which are responsible for generating datasets. On the second middleware level, the gathered data is stored and processed by other devices. This is the stage in which devices exchange and analyze information.
Finally, the presentation level is what people interact with: on this stage, the IoT is responsible for presenting the gathered and processed information is the form that would be easily understandable by the users of the IoT. Once again, the example of “smart houses” would perfectly exemplify each of the three mentioned stages: people are able to acquire information about various conditions in their house since the information from different electronic devices in such houses has been processed by the IoT.
Why should the reader be interested in further exploration of this process? As it is mentioned by Rose, Eldridge, and Chapin (2015), the IoT is a rapidly developing sphere of communication technologies and its use is yet to come to its fullest potential. Even despite the fact that further progress in this area should be made, the IoT is widely used currently. Therefore, it is essential to understand how this technology works so that the reader would be familiar with it because he or she would probably come across some IoT systems at a certain point in time. The Internet of Things is one of the most important trends in contemporary telecommunications.
Reference
Rose, K., Eldridge, S., & Chapin, L. (2015). The internet of things: An overview. Web.