Smart Sensors Networks: Communication Technologies and Intelligent Applications

TIN2013-46181-C2-1-R).

Part 1

IoT and Network Communication Systems

Outline

Chapter 1. IoT Technologies: State of the Art and a Software Development Framework

Chapter 2. Increasing Effective Transmissions Using Smart Antenna Systems

Chapter 3. A DTN-Based Multi-hop Network for Disaster Information Transmission

Chapter 4. Intelligent Energy Management for Environmental Monitoring Systems

Chapter 1

IoT Technologies: State of the Art and a Software Development Framework

Takahiro Inui⁎; Masaki Kohana⁎; Shusuke Okamoto⁎; Masaru Kamada†    ⁎Seikei University, Japan

†Ibaraki University, Japan

Abstract

The Internet of Things is a new structure of internetworking, on which things in our daily life are connected to the Internet to collect and exchange data. This chapter introduces the current status of the Internet of Things that includes some examples of applications, standardization trends, and basic technologies. Some security risks are discussed. The chapter also proposes a software framework for development of the Internet of Things, and discusses the importance of timer accuracy under periodic processing.

Keywords

IoT; Embedded device; Standardization; Security; Linux; Operating system; Software framework

Acronyms and Glossary

List of acronyms with explanation

AI Artificial Intelligence

API Application Programming Interface

ARM Acorn RISC Machine

BLE Bluetooth Low Energy

CFS Completely Fair Scheduler

CIA Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability

CPU Central Processing Unit

FIFO Firts-In, First-Out

GPIO General Purpose Input/Output

GUI Graphical User Interface

HEMS Home Energy Management System

ICS Industrial Control System

IoT Internet of Things

LED Light-Emitting Diode

OTA Over The Air

RISC Reduce Instruction Set Computing

SoC System on a Chip

Glossary of terms with explanation

Bluetooth a wireless technology for short distance.

GTK+ a library to build graphical user interface.

Raspberry Pi a tiny computer provided by Raspberry PI Foundation.

Wi-Fi a technology that allows devices to connect to wireless networks.

1.1 Introduction

Internet-connected devices such as smart phones and embedded devices other than personal computers have attracted much attention recently. Especially, small objects with a CPU, memory, sensors, and an Ethernet interface have a great potential to change our IT society. The internetworking of these devices is called Internet of Things (IoT). Data collected by IoT devices can be shared with other systems via the Internet, and they can be analyzed in real time. With their embedded technology and low energy requirements, IoT devices are expected to improve our IT experiences in the near future as they continue to make our daily life more comfortable. Recently, some studies and books are published to try to introduce early stage of personal and enterprise IoT usability (Dominique Guinard, 2016; Balani, 2016; Greengard, 2015; Familiar, 2015; Jaokar, 2015; Sula et al., 2014). However, we must bear in mind the security risks associated with them. Hijacking IoT devices or planting undesired devices can lead to invisible threats. It is important to build safe and appropriate technologies for IoT (Hu, 2016). The aim of this chapter is to give readers a proper understanding of IoT devices, the necessary technologies and its standards, as well as to present our approach in developing an IoT software.

1.2 Current Status of IoT

In this section, we will summarize the current status of IoT devices. They help improve lives and society, and are used in public facilities, factories, and homes. We will also describe standardization initiatives to introduce the technology aspect of IoT devices. Several companies have attempted to establish a unified standard and have also organized themselves into groups. After the discussion about standardizations, we will describe the associated technologies, such as communication technologies, power consumption, and productivity.

1.2.1 Example of IoT Devices

There are already a number of IoT devices targeted at home users. For example, iRobot Corporation is selling Roomba 980, (iRobot Corporation) which is a home cleaning robot. It is equipped with sensors such as tracking sensors and a camera. It cleans a room autonomously without help from any person. To improve time efficiency and power consumption, Roomba 980 creates a map of the room during a cleaning task. It is designed not to go through the same place twice. This cleaning robot is equipped with a Wi-Fi module. Using a dedicated application, a user can connect to the robot and make it start cleaning from the outside of the house.

Koninklijke Philips N.V. is selling an LED lighting device named hue, (PHILIPS) which is a type of IoT device. It is equipped with a Wi-Fi module, and, with a dedicated application, it allows users to invoke various control operations such as turning on/off the light, moving the direction of light, and setting the timer schedule. It can also turn on the light according to the command coming from outside of the house to prevent a crime. Hue links up with a GPS. It can turn on the light automatically when a user returns to his/her house. The IFTTT (IFTTT) (a web service that links a product to some application) can change the color of the lighting by sending an email to the web server.

The third example is a smart lock, which is sold by several companies. This is designed to perform locking and unlocking operations on a door; the user needs to only place his/her own authorized device such as a smart phone close to the door to perform the operations. It uses wireless protocols such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to communicate. It restricts access and checks the locking of the door via the Internet.

These three examples make our life convenient and comfortable by using an Internet-connected device. Next, we will introduce three use cases of IoT devices at public spaces.

The first one is a service that lets users know the congestion situation of a toilet space (Fanbright). A wireless magnet sensor is attached to a toilet door. It checks whether the toilet is vacant or occupied, and sends the information to a web server. The server shows a web page that indicates the status of the toilet space. This service is suitable for stations, office buildings, and shopping malls as it allows people to find a vacant toilet smoothly.

The second one is a bus arrival information board that was introduced in Kyoto city (Suzuki). It uses a device with Bluetooth and public Wi-Fi connection. When a bus is approaching, the device detects the bus by using a Bluetooth beacon and sends the arrival information to the information board through public Wi-Fi. This system can be installed at a low price. Moreover, the arrival information is available to the public.

The third one is a smart meter (TEPCO). It is an electrical device that measures electricity consumption and communicates it with a server. A conventional device measures the electricity consumption. However, someone has to read the cumulative value monthly. On the other hand, using a smart meter enables a company to receive the data automatically every 30 min. In addition, the company can offer a service that encourages saving electricity consumption with the report data. A smart meter can be configured to cooperate with a home energy management system (HEMS), which is a control system for optimizing the energy consumption of a house. It can be connected to a consumer electronic device and/or electrical equipment, allowing it to operate them automatically, and it presents the consumption to the user as visual data. HEMS can utilize data from smart meters and create a graph that changes every 30 min. It promotes less energy consumption.

1.2.2 Standardization Trend

As a related topic of IoT technologies, we will introduce a few initiatives that aim to standardize the connection methods for communicating with different equipments and platforms. They are necessary for developers to build a common platform. Table 1.1 shows a list of the standardization organizations (Hachiyama). It is divided into three categories: standardization, platform, and ecosystem. These are mainly aimed at unifying the telecommunication technologies. OneM2M (oneM2M) group targets machine-to-machine communications. Thread Group targets wireless communications at home. Its technology achieves scalability that allows connecting 250+ devices into a wireless network with lower energy consumption. There are two platform groups: AllSeen Alliance (AllSeen) and Open Connectivity Foundation; they offer open source software for the IoT platform, which enables bidirectional communication between home electronics and electric devices. At the government level, the German government promotes the computerization of manufacturing. The terms Industrie 4.0 and Smart Factory have drawn attention recently (Open-Connectivity-Foundation; Industrial-Internet-Consortium; Industrie-4.0). In Japan, a government-sponsored organization named Industrial Value Chain Initiative has been established, which aims to create a new style of manufacturing.

Table 1.1

List of Standardization Organizations

1.2.3 IoT Technologies

IoT technologies include various communication standards, operating systems, and data utilization. We will start by explaining the communication standards. IoT devices are used in various situations and locations. These devices use various communication methods, which are selected based on the communication distance, speed, and energy consumption. Table 1.2 shows a list of communication standards (Lee et al., 2007; kanda.com). Zigbee is the lowest energy consumption method, and it transmits data through a mesh network. On the other hand, Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and Wi-Fi constitute a star network that has a central hub. The speed of BLE is faster than that of Zigbee, but its energy consumption is higher than that of Zigbee. The speed of Wi-Fi is the fastest among them, and its distance is the longest. However, the energy consumption of Wi-Fi is the highest level among them.

Table 1.2

Communication Standards

The next topic is platforms and operating systems. We can find a system that has a central control for sensor management, data analysis, and display of results.

Google publicly announced an Android-based OS for IoT named Brillo, (GoogleBrillo) which is a type of embedded operating system and is composed of core services. It has a variety of hardware functions and customizable options, and it enables the transformation from a prototype to a finished product quickly. It is possible to utilize OTA (over-the-air) update, software metrics, and crash report. A communication platform named Weave (GoogleWeave) enables a device to communicate with other devices such as smart locks and smart lighting.

There is a multiprotocol SoC (system on a chip) for IoT devices, which is named Wireless Gecko (WirelessGecko). It has an ARM processor, a memory, sensor interfaces, and a hardware encryption function. It makes IoT device development easy by combining different communication standards (such as Thread, Zigbee, and BLE) and providing an integrated development environment named Simplicity Studio (SILICON-LABS). Wireless Gecko's energy consumption is 63 μA when active. Wireless Gecko can be awakened in 1.4 ms from the standby state. It can use a piece of software that monitors the power efficiency and a packet of network in real