IoT Architecture – How IoT work?
In the previous article we discussed What is IoT ? and the Definition of the Internet of things with a practical example, here we discuss IoT architecture.
Here is the answer; every system has predefined steps to make it work with the desired output, so the IoT has its own.
Internet of Things is a combination of the following three:
1. Sensors and Actuators
Sensors measure physical quantities such as temperature, sound, moisture, vibrations, etc and convert this physical quantity into an electrical quantity. These Converted signals pass to the system and then system acts accordingly.
2. Connectivity
The received signals are to be uploaded on the network using different communication media such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or BLE, LoRaWAN, LTE, and many more.
3. People and Process
People and Process are an important part of IoT. Networked inputs are then combined into a bidirectional system that integrates data, people and processes for better decision making.
User can access its result on his mobile/web application.
Below Video on IoT Architecture gives you clear understanding ‘How does IoT Works?’
More technical way explanation of IoT Architecture layers
The above figure is self-explanatory about IoT Architecture. As shown in the figure,
Internet of things is based on four simple building blocks also called IoT architecture layers
1) Sensors 2) Internet of Things (IoT) framework & gateway 3) cloud server 4) mobile app
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Sensors
Sensors are everywhere, sensors sense data from the atmosphere or place. the eg. temperature sensor senses temperature from the room and shares it through IoT gateway.
Sensors will sniff a wide variety of information ranging from Location, Weather/Environment conditions, running machine, from the human body, engine maintenance data to health essentials of a vehicle.
See also: Sensors for IoT development
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IoT Gateways & frameworks
As the name rightly explains, it is a gateway to the internet for all the things/devices that we want to interact with. Gateways act as a carrier between the internal network of sensor nodes with the external Internet or World Wide Web.
They do this by collecting the data from sensor nodes and transmitting them to the internet infrastructure.
Related to this: What is an IoT Gateway? Why We Need IoT Gateway in IoT Solution?
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Cloud server
The data transmitted through the gateway is stored & processed securely within the cloud server i.e. in data centres. This processed data is then used to perform intelligent actions that make all our devices Smart Devices. In the cloud, all analytics and decision making happen considering user comfort.
See also: What is Azure? Understanding Microsoft Azure Cloud
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Mobile applications
The intuitive mobile apps will help end-users to control & monitor their devices (ranging from the room thermostat to vehicle engines) from remote locations.
These apps push important information from the cloud on your smartphones, tablets.
After analytics, Information is in the form of graphs, bars and in pi-diagram and display to the user in a user-friendly manner.
From mobile application, we can send a command to sensors to change default values, like changing default temperature of air conditioner and many more.
See also: Blynk mobile app for IoT development
Conclusion
IoT Architecture is nothing but working on Connected things. It has four basic building blocks, Sensors, IoT gateway, Cloud Server and Mobile apps.
As the name suggests, Sensors sense the data. This data store at Cloud server and intelligent decisions take place here. IoT gateway is a carrier for this data and Finally Mobile apps for user to see and access data.
I hope you got a better understanding of ‘How IoT Works ‘.
See also: Why Do We Need the Internet of Things?
Let us know what you think about IoT Architecture and How IoT works in the comment section below.
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