BETCK105H /Introduction to IOT Module-4

Module-4

ASSOCIATED IOT TECHNOLOGIES & IOT CASE STUDIES

Cloud Computing: Introduction, Virtualization, Cloud Models, Service-Level

Agreement in Cloud Computing, Cloud Implementation, Sensor-Cloud: Sensors-as-
a-Service.

IOT CASE STUDIES Agricultural IoT – Introduction and Case Studies Textbook 1:
Chapter 10– 10.1 to 10.6; Chapter 12- 12.1-12.2Cloud Computing

10.1 Introduction
Cloud computing is more than traditional network computing. Unlike network
computing, cloud computing comprises a pool of multiple resources such as servers,
storage, and network from single/multiple organizations. These resources are allocated
to the end users as per requirement, on a payment basis. In cloud computing
architecture, an end user can request for customized resources such as storage space,
RAM, operating systems, and other software to a cloud service provider (CSP) as shown
in Figure 10.1. For example, a user can request for a Linux operating system for
running an application from a CSP; another end user can request for Windows 10
operating system from the same CSP for executing some application. The cloud
services are accessible from anywhere and at any time by an authorized user through
Internet connectivity.

User

a) Network computing

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Resourc
epool User
A

User
B

b) Cloud computing

Figure 10.1 Network computing versus cloud computing

The services of cloud computing are based on the pay-per-use model. The concept is
the same as paying utility bills based on consumption. In cloudcomputing, a user pays
for the cloud services as per the duration of their resource usage. On the other hand,
there is a CSP, that provides cloud services to end user organizations.

10.2 Virtualization
The key concept of cloud computing is virtualization. The technique of sharing a single
resource among multiple end user organizations or end users is known as
virtualization. In the virtualization process, a physical resource is logically distributed
among multiple users. Figure 10.2(a) represents a traditional desktop, where an
application (App) is running on top of an OS, and resources are utilized only for that
particular application. On the other hand, multiple resources can be used by different
end users through virtualization software, as shown in Figure 10.2(b).

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10.2.1 Advantages of virtualization

With the increasing number of interconnected heterogeneous devices in IoT, the
importance of virtualization also increases. Users are mainly concerned for their services.
Typically, there are different software such as VMware, which enable the concept of
virtualization.
Moreover, there is always a risk of system crash at any instant of time. In such a
scenario, cloud computing plays a vital role by keeping backups through
virtualization. Primarily, there are two entities in a cloud computing architecture: end
users and CSP. The major advantages, from theperspective of the end user and CSP,
are as follows:
(i) Advantages for End Users

(a) Variety: The process of virtualization in cloud computing enables an end

user organization to use various types of applications based on the
requirements. As an example, suppose John takes up still photography as
a hobby. His resource-limited PC can barely handle the requirements for
a photo editing software, say X-photoeditor. In order to augment his PC’sregular
performance, he uninstalls the X-photoeditor software and purchasesa cloud
service, which lets him access a virtual machine (VM). In his VM, he
installs the X-photoeditor software, by which he can edit photos efficiently and,
most importantly, without worrying about burdening his PC or running out
of processing resources. After six months, John’s interestin his hobby grows
and he moves on to video-editing too. For editing his captured videos, he
installs a video editing software, Y-videoeditor, in his VM and can edit videos
efficiently. Additionally, he has the option of installing and using a variety of
software for different purposes.
(b) Availability: Virtualization creates a logical separation of the resources of
multiple entities without any intervention of end users. Consequently, the
concept of virtualization makes available a considerable amount of
resources as per user requirements. The end users feel that there are
unlimited resources present dedicatedly for him/her. Let us suppose that
Jane uses a particular email service. Her account has been active for over
ten years now; however, it offers limited storage of 2 GB. Due to the ever-
accumulating file attachments in different emails, her 2 GB complimentary
space is exhausted. However, there is a provision that if she pays $100
annually, she can attach additional space to her mail service. This upgrade
allows her to have more storage at her disposal for a considerable time in
the future.
(c) Portability: Portability signifies the availability of cloud computing services
from anywhere in the world, at any instant of time. For example, a person
flying from the US to the UK still has access to their documents, although
they cannot physically access the devices on which the data is stored. This
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has been made possible by platforms such as Google Drive.

(d) Elasticity: Through the concept of virtualization, an end user can scale-up
or scale-down resource utilization as per requirements. We have already
explained that cloud computing is based on a pay-per-use model. The end
user needs to pay the amount based on their usage. For example, Jack rents
two VMs in a cloud computing infrastructure from a CSP. VM1 has the
Ubuntu operating system (OS), on which Jack is simulating a network
scenario using Network Simulator-2 (NS2). VM2 has Windows 10 OS, on
which he is running a MATLAB simulation. However, after a few days, Jack
feels that his VM2 has served its purpose and is no longer required.
Consequently, he releases VM2 and, after that, he is only billed for VM1.
Thus, Jack can scale-up or scale-down his resources in cloud computing,
which employs the concept of virtualization.
(ii) Advantages for CSP

(a) Resource Utilization: Typically, a CSP in a cloud computing architecture

procures resources on their own or get them from third parties. These
resources are distributed among different users dynamically as per their
requirements. A segment of a particular resource provided to a user at a time
instant, can be provided to another user at a different time instant. Thus, in
the cloud computing architecture, resources can be re-utilized for multiple
users.
(b) Effective Revenue Generation: A CSP generates revenue from the end
users based on resource utilization. As an example, today, a user A is
utilizing storage facility from a particular CSP. The user will release the
storage after a few days when his/her requirement is complete. The CSP
earns some revenue from user A for the utilization of the allocated storage
facility. In the future, the CSP can provide the same storage facility toa
different user, B. Again, the CSP can generate revenue from user B for
his/her storage utilization.

10.2.2 Types of virtualization

Based on the requirements of the users, we categorized virtualization as shown in
Figure 10.3.

(i) Hardware Virtualization: This type of virtualization indicates the sharing of

hardware resources among multiple users. For example, a single processor
appears as many different processors in a cloud computing architecture.

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Virtualization

Hardware Storage Application Desktop

Figure 10.3 Types of virtualization

Different operating systems can be installed in these processors and each of them
can work as stand-alone machines.
(ii) Storage Virtualization: In storage virtualization, the storage space from different
entities are accumulated virtually, and seem like a single storage location.
Through storage virtualization, a user’s documents or files exist in different
locations in a distributed fashion. However, the users are under the impression
that they have a single dedicated storage space provided to them.
(iii) Application Virtualization: A single application is stored at the cloud end.
However, as per requirement, a user can use the application in his/her local
computer without ever actually installing the application. Similar to storage
virtualization, in application virtualization, the users get the impression that
applications are stored and executed in their local computer.
(iv) Desktop Virtualization: This type of virtualization allows a user to access and
utilize the services of a desktop that resides at the cloud. The users can use the
desktop from their local desktop.

10.3 Cloud Models

As per the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) [1] and Cloud
Computing Standards Roadmap Working Group, the cloud model can be divided into two
parts: (1) Service model and (2) Deployment model as shown in Figure 10.4.

Further the service model is categorized as:

1. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

2. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS),

3. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).

On the other hand, the deployment model is further categorized as:

1. Private cloud 3. Community cloud

2. Public cloud 4. Hybrid cloud

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Software-as-a-service

Service model Platform-as-a-service

Cloud model
Infrastructure-as-a-service
Private cloud

Community cloud
Deployment model
Public cloud

Hybrid cloud

Figure 10.4 Cloud model

(i) Service Model
The service model is depicted in Figure 10.5.

(a) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): This service provides access to different

software applications to an end user through Internet connectivity. For
accessing the service, a user does not need to purchase and install the software
applications on his/her local desktop. The software is located in a cloud
server, from where the services are provided to multiple end users. SaaS offers
scalability, by which users have the provision to use multiple software
applications as per their requirements. Additionally, a user does not need to
worry about the update of the software applications. This software is accessible
from any location. One example of SaaS is Microsoft Office 365.
(b) Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): PaaS provides a computing platform, by which
a user can develop and run different applications. The cloud user need
not go through the burden of installing and managing the infrastructure such
as operating system, storage, and networks. However, the users can develop
and manage the applications that are running on topof it. An example of PaaS
is Google App Engine.
(c) Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): IaaS provides infrastructure such as
storage, networks, and computing resources. A user uses the infrastructure
without purchasing the software and other network components. In the
infrastructure provided by a CSP, a user can use any composition of the
operating system and software. An example of IaaS is Google Compute Engine.

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User 2
User 2
App 2
User 1 User 3 App 1 App 3 User 3
User 1

Software B

Software D
Software C Platform

(a) SaaS (b) PaaS

User 2

User 1 User 3

Database Networks

(c) IaaS

Figure 10.5 Service models

(ii) Deployment Model

(a) Private Cloud: This type of cloud is owned explicitly by an end user
organization. The internal resources of the organization maintain the
private cloud.
(b) Community Cloud: This cloud forms with the collaboration of a set of
organizations for a specific community. For a community cloud, each
organization has some shared interests.
(c) Public Cloud: The public cloud is owned by a third-party organization,
which provides services to the common public. The service of this cloud is
available for any user, on a payment basis.
(d) Hybrid Cloud: This type of cloud comprises two or more clouds (private,
public, or community).

10.4 Service-Level Agreement in Cloud Computing

The most important actors in cloud computing are the end user/customer and CSP.
Cloud computing architecture aims to provide optimal and efficient services to the
end users and generate revenue from them as per their usage. Therefore, for a clear
understanding between CSP and the customer about the services, an agreement is
required to be made, which is known as service-level agreement (SLA).

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10.4.1 Importance of SLA

An SLA is essential in cloud computing architecture for both CSP and customers. It is
important because of the following reasons:
• Customer Point of View: Each CSP has its SLA, which contains a detailed
description of the services. If a customer wants to use a cloud service, he/she can
compare the SLAs of different organizations. Therefore, a customer can choose a
preferred CSP based on the SLAs.
• CSP Point of View: In many cases, certain performance issues may occur for a
particular service, because of which a CSP may not be able to provide the services
efficiently. Thus, in such a situation, a CSP can explicitly mention in the SLA that
they are not responsible for inefficient service.

10.4.2 Metrics for SLA

Depending on the type of services, an SLA is constructed with different metrics.
However, a few common metrics that are required to be included for constructing an
SLA are as follows:
(i) Availability: This metric signifies the amount of time the service will be
accessible for the customer.
(ii) Response Time: The maximum time that will be taken for responding to a
customer request is measured by response time.
(iii) Portability: This metric indicates the flexibility of transferring the data to another
service.
(iv) Problem Reporting: How to report a problem, whom and how to be contacted,
is explained in this metric.
(v) Penalty: The penalty for not meeting the promises mentioned in the SLA.

10.5 Cloud Implementation

10.5.1 Cloud simulation
With the rapid deployment of IoT infrastructure for different applications, the
requirement for cloud computing is also increasing. On the other hand, real
deployment of the cloud is a complex and costly procedure. Thus, there is a
requirement for simulating the system through a cloud simulator before real
implementation. Typically, a cloud simulator provides the following advantages to a
customer:
• Pre-deployment test before real implementation
• System testing at no cost
• Repeatable evaluation of the system

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• Pre-detection of issues that may affect the system performance
• Flexibility to control the environment

Currently, different types of cloud simulators are available. A few cloud simulators
are listed here:

(i) CloudSim

(a) Description: CloudSim [3] is a popular cloud simulator that was developed
at the University of Melbourne. This simulator is written in a Java-based
environment. In CloudSim, a user is allowed to add or remove resources
dynamically during the simulation and evaluate the performance of the
scenario.
(b) Features: CloudSim has different features, which are listed as follows:
(1) The CloudSim simulator provides various cloud computing data
centers along with different data center network topologies in a
simulation environment.
(2) Using CloudSim, virtualization of server hosts can be done in a
simulation.
(3) A user is able to allocate virtual machines (VMs) dynamically.
(4) It allows users to define their own policies for the allocation of host
resources to VMs.
(5) It provides flexibility to add or remove simulation components
dynamically.
(6) A user can stop and resume the simulation at any instant of time.

(ii) CloudAnalyst

(a) Description: CloudAnalyst [4] is based on CloudSim. This simulator

provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for simulating a cloud
environment, easily. The CloudAnalyst is used for simulating large-scale
cloud applications.
(b) Features:
(1) The CloudAnalyst simulator is easy to use due to the presence of the
GUI.
(2) It allows a user to add components and provides a flexible and high
level of configuration.
(3) A user can perform repeated experiments, considering different
parameter values.
(4) It can provide a graphical output, including a chart and table.

(iii) GreenCloud

(a) Description: GreenCloud [2] is developed as an extension of a packet-

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level network simulator, NS2. This simulator can monitor the energy
consumption of different network components such as servers and switches.
(b) Features:
(1) GreenCloud is an open-source simulator with user-friendly GUI.
(2) It provides the facility for monitoring the energy consumption of the
network and its various components.
(3) It supports the simulations of cloud network components.
(4) It enables improved power management schemes.
(5) It allows a user to manage and configure devices, dynamically, in
simulation.

10.5.2 An open-source cloud: OpenStack

For the real implementation of cloud, there are various open-source cloud platforms
available such as
1. OpenStack
2. CloudStack
3. Eucalyptus.
The OpenStack [12] is free software, which provides a cloud IaaS to users. A user can
easily use this cloud with the help of a GUI-based web interface or through the
command line. The service components of OpenStack along with their functions are
depicted in Table 10.1.

Features of OpenStack

(i) OpenStack allows a user to create and deploy virtual machines.

(ii) It provides the flexibility of setting up a cloud management environment.

Table 10.1 Components in OpenStack

Component Function
Nova Compute
Neutron Networking
Cinder Block storage
Keystone Identity
Glance Image
Swift Object storage
Horizon Dashboard
Trove Database
Sahara Elasticmap reduce

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Manila Shared file system
Designate DNS
Searchlight Search
Barbican Key manager

(iii) OpenStack supports an easy horizontal scaling: dynamic addition or removal of

instances for providing services to multiple numbers of users.
(iv) This cloud platform allows the users to access the source code and share their
code to the community.

10.5.3 A commercial cloud: Amazon web services (AWS)

A popular commercial cloud infrastructures are Amazon Web Services (AWS),
Microsoft Azure, and Google App Engine. AWS provides different APIs (application
programming interfaces), tools, and utilities for users. Like other commercial clouds,
Amazon AWSfollows the pay-per-use model. This cloud infrastructure provides a virtual
computing environment, where different configurations, such as CPU, memory,
storage, and networking capacity are available.

Features of AWS

(i) It provides flexibility to scale and manage the server capacity.

(ii) AWS provides control to OS and deployment software.
(iii) It follows the pay-per-use model.
(iv) The cloud allows a user to establish connectivity between the physical network
and private virtual network
(v) The developer tools in this cloud infrastructure help a user for fast development
and deployment of the software.
(vi) AWS provides excellent management tools, which help a user to monitor and
automate different components of the cloud.
(vii) The cloud provides machine learning facilities, which are very useful for data
scientists and developers.
(viii) For extracting meaning from data, analytics play an important role. AWS also
provides a data analytics platform.

10.6 Sensor-Cloud: Sensors-as-a-Service

In a sensor-cloud, virtualization of sensors plays an essential role in providing services to
multiple users. Typically, in a sensor-cloud architecture, multiple users receive services
from different sensor nodes, simultaneously. The main aim of sensor-cloud infrastructure
is to provide an opportunity for the common mass to use Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)

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on a payment basis. Similar to cloud computing, sensor-cloud architecture also follows
the pay-per-use model.

10.6.1 Importance of sensor-cloud

The sensor-cloud infrastructure is based on the concept of cloud computing, in which
a user application is served by a set of homogeneous or heterogeneous sensor nodes.
Using the sensor-cloud infrastructure, a user receives data for an application from
multiple sensor nodes without owning them.
Figures 10.6 depicts the usage of sensor nodes using traditional WSN and
sensor- cloud infrastructure. With the help of a case study, we will discuss the
advantages of sensor-cloud over traditional WSN.
Case Study: John is a farmer, and he has a significantly vast farmable area with him.
As manual supervision of the entire field is very difficult, he has planned to deploya
WSN in his farming field. Before purchasing the WSN, he has to decide which sensors
should be used in his fields for sensing the different agricultural parameters. Additionally,
he has to decide the type and number of other components such as an electronics circuit
board and communication module required along with the sensors. As there are
numerous vendors, it is challenging for him to choose the correct (in terms of quality
and cost) vendor, as well as the sensor owner from whom the WSN will be procured.
He finally decides the type of sensors along with the other components that are required
for monitoring his agricultural field. Now, John faces the difficulty of optimally planning
the sensor node deployment in his fields. After going through these hurdles, he decides
on the number of sensor nodes that are required for monitoring his field. Finally, John
procures the WSNs from a vendor. After procurement, he deploys the sensor nodes and
connects different components. As WSN consists of different electronic components, he
has to maintain the WSN after its deployment. After three months, as his requirement
of agricultural field monitoring is completed, he removes the WSN from the agricultural
field. Six months later, John plans to use the WSN that was deployed in the agricultural
field for home surveillance. As the agriculture application is different from the home
surveillance application, the sensor required for the system also changes. Thus, John has
to go through all the steps again, including maintenance, deployment, and hardware
management, for the surveillance system. Thus, we observe that the users face different
responsibilities for using a WSN for an application. In such a situation, if sensor-cloud
architecture is present, John can easily use WSNs for his application on a rental basis.
Moreover, through the use of sensor-cloud, John can easily switch the application
without any manual intervention. On the other end, service providers of the sensor-cloud
infrastructure may serve multiple users with the same sensors and earn profit.

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Used by
multiple users

Single user
application

Aggregated data

Deployed WSN
by single user

(a) Traditional WSNs

Used by
multiple users

Multiple user
applications

Data for multiple

applications

Sensor
virtualization

Aggregated data

Deployed sensor
nodes by different
scnsor-owners

(b) Sensor cloud

Figure 10.6 Traditional WSN versus sensor-cloud

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10.6.2 Architecture of a sensor-cloud platform

In sensor-cloud architecture, the sensor owners play an important role along with the
service provider and end users. However, a service provider in sensor-cloud
architecture is known as a sensor-cloud service provider (SCSP). The detailed
architecture of a sensor-cloud isdepicted in Figure 10.7.

Cloud

Web interface
SCSP

Sensor
owners

End-users

Deployed sensor nodes

Figure 10.7 Architecture of a sensor-cloud platform

Actors in sensor-cloud architecture

Typically, in a sensor-cloud architecture, three actors are present. We briefly describe the
role of each actor.
(i) End User: This actor is also known as a customer of the sensor-cloud services.
Typically, an end user registers him/herself with the infrastructure through a Web
portal. Thereafter, he/she chooses the template of the services that are available in
the sensor-cloud architecture to which he/she is registered. Finally, through the
Web portal, the end user receives the services, as shown in Figure
10.7. Based on the type and usage duration of service, the end user pays the
charges to the SCSP.
(ii) Sensor Owner: The sensors in a sensor-cloud architecture are owned and
deployed by the sensor owners, as depicted in Figure 10.7. A particular sensor
owner can own multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous sensor nodes. Based
on the requirements of the users, these sensor nodes are virtualized and
assigned to serving multiple applications at the same time. On the other hand,

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a sensor owner receives rent depending upon the duration and usage of his/her
sensor node(s).
(iii) Sensor-Cloud Service Provider (SCSP): An SCSP is responsible for managing the
entire sensor-cloud infrastructure (including management of sensor owners and
end users handling, resource handling, database management, cloud handling
etc.), centrally. The SCSP receives rent from end users with the help ofa pre-
defined pricing model. The pricing scheme may include the infrastructure cost,
sensor owners’ rent, and the revenue of the SCSP.

Sensor-Cloud Architecture from Different Viewpoints

Different views of sensor-cloud architectureare shown in Figure 10.8.

(i) User Organizational View: This view of sensor-cloud architecture is simple. In

a sensor-cloud, end users interact with a Web interface for selecting templates
of the services. Thereafter, the services are received by the end users through the
Web interface. In this architecture, an end user is unaware of the complex processes
that are running at the back end.
(ii) Real Architectural View: The complex processing of sensor-cloud architecture
is visualized through this view. The processes include sensor allocation, data
extraction from the sensors, virtualization of sensor nodes, maintenance of the
infrastructure, data center management, data caching, and others.
User organizational view Real architectural view

Sensor allocation
Virtualization
Registration Data center
Login management
Template selection Data extraction
Service Maintenance
Data caching
....
Figure 10.8 Sensor-cloud architecture

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Agricultural IoT
Figure 12.1 depicts a basic architecture of an agricultural IoT.

20%
20%
Flow
Sensor D 20%

20%
20%
20%

Sensor D

100
20%

100
20%

90
20%

80
70
90
20%

60
80
70
60
Sensor A Sensor C

Figure 12.1 Architecture of agricultural IoT

12.1.1 Components of an agricultural IoT

The components of agricultural IoT are depicted in Figure 12.2.
Handheld
device Wireless
connectivity

Drone
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%

Cloud computing
Analytics

Scnsor Camera Satellite

Figure 12.2 Components of agricultural IoT

The different components of an agricultural IoT are discussed as follows:

• Cloud computing: Sensors such as the camera, devices to measure soil moisture,
soil humidity, and soil pH-level are used for serving different agricultural
applications. These sensors produce a huge amount of agricultural data that
need to be analyzed. Sometimes, based on the data analysis, action needs to be

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taken, such as switching on the water pump for irrigation. Further, the data from
the deployed sensors are required to be stored on a long-term basis since it may
be useful for serving future applications. Thus, for agricultural data analysis and
storage, the cloud plays a crucial role.
• Sensors: For agricultural IoT applications, the sensors are an indispensable
component. A few of the commonsensors used in agriculture are sensors for soil
moisture, humidity, water level, and temperature.
• Cameras: Imaging is one of the main components of agriculture. Therefore,
multispectral, thermal, and RGB cameras are commonly used for scientific
agricultural IoT. These cameras are used for estimating the nitrogen status,
thermal stress, water stress, and crop damage due to inundation, as well as
infestation. Video cameras are used for crop security.
• Satellites: satellites are extensively used to extract information from field
imagery. The satellite images are used in agricultural applications to monitor
different aspects of the crops such as crop health monitoring and dry zone
assessing over a large area.
• Analytics: Currently, with the help of analytics, farmers can take different
agricultural decisions, such as estimating the required amount of fertilizer and
water in an agricultural field and estimating the type of crops that need to be
cultivated during the upcomingseason. It is used to analyze data for the entire
agricultural supply chain. Data analytics can also be used for estimating the crop
demand in the market.
• Wireless connectivity: Wireless connectivity enables the transmission of the
agricultural sensor data from the field to the cloud/server. It also enables
farmers to access various application services over handheld devices, which
rely on wireless connectivity for communicating with the cloud/server.
• Handheld devices: One of the fundamental components of e-agriculture is a
handheld device such as a smartphone. Farmers can access different
agricultural information, such as soil and crop conditions of their fields and
market tendency,over their smartphones. Additionally, farmers can also control
different field equipment, such as pumps, from their phones.
• Drones: Currently, the use of drones has become very attractive in different
applications such as surveillance, healthcare, product delivery, photography, and
agriculture. Drone imaging is an alternative to satellite imaging in agriculture.
In continuation to providing better resolution land mapping visuals, drones are
used in agriculture for crop monitoring, pesticide spraying, and irrigation.
Agricultural food chain (agri-chain) represents the different stages that are
involved in agricultural activity right from the agricultural fields to the consumers.
Figure 12.3 depicts a typical agricultural food chain with the different operations that
are involved in it.

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Different stages in Agri-chain are as follows:

1. Farming: In farming various operations, such as seeding, irrigation, fertilizer
spreading, and pesticide spraying, are involved. For performing these operations,
different IoT components are used. As an example, for monitoring the soil health,
soil moisture and temperature sensors are used; drones are used for spraying
pesticides; through Wireless connectivity a report on on-field soil conditions is
sent directly to a users’ handheld device or cloud.
2. Transport: transport indicates the transfer of crops from the field to the local
storage, and after that, to long-term storage locations. In transport, smart
vehicles can automatically load and unload crops. The global positioning system
(GPS) plays an important role by tracking these smart devices, and radio frequency
identification (RFID) is used to collect information regarding the presence of a
particular container of a crop at a warehouse.
3. Storage: This is one of the important operations in the agri-chain. It is
responsible for storing crops on a long-term basis. Typically, cold storage is used
for preserving the crops for a long time and providing them with the necessary
climatic and storage conditions and protection. In the storage, cameras are used to
keep a check and protect the harvested crops. The camera feeds are transferred
through wireless connectivity to a remote server or a cloud infrastructure. Moreover,
the amount and type of crops stored in a storage location are tracked and recorded
with the help of sensors and cloud computing.
4. Processing: includes proper drying and packaging of crops. For drying and
packaging, different sensors are used. Packaging is the immediate operation
prior to pushing the crop into the market. Thus, it is essential to track every package
and store all the details related to the crops in the cloud.
5. Logistics: enables the transfer of the packed crops to the market with the help of
smart vehicles. These smart vehicles are equipped with different sensors that help in
loading and unloading the packed crop autonomously. Additionally, GPS is used in
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these smart vehicles for locating the position of the packed crops at any instant and
tracking their whereabouts. All the logistical information gets logged in the cloud with
the help of wireless connectivity.
6. Market: Finally, the packed items reach the market using logistical channels. From
the market, these items are accessible to consumers. The details of the sale and
purchase of the items are stored in the form of records in the cloud.

12.1.2 Advantages of IoT in agriculture

The specific advantages of the agricultural IoT are as follows:

(i) Automatic seeding: IoT-based agricultural systems are capable of autonomous

seeding and planting over the agricultural fields. These systems significantly
reduce manual effort, error probability, and delays in seeding and planting.
(ii) Efficient fertilizer and pesticide distribution: Agricultural IoT has been used
to develop solutions that are capable of applying and controlling the amount of
fertilizers and pesticides efficiently. These solutions are based on the analysis of
crop health.
(iii) Water management: The excess distribution of water in the agricultural fields
may affect the growth of crops. On the other hand, the availability of global
water resources is finite. The IoT-enabled agricultural systems are capable of
monitoring the water level and moisture in the soil, and accordingly, distribute
the water to the agricultural fields.
(iv) Real-time and remote monitoring: Unlike traditional agriculture, in IoT-
based farming, a stakeholder can remotely monitor different agricultural
parameters, such as crop and soil conditions, plant health, and weather
conditions. Moreover,using a smart handheld device (e.g., cellphone), a farmer
can actuate on-field farming machinery such as a water pump, valves, and other
pieces of machinery.
(v) Easy yield estimation: Agricultural IoT solutions can be used to record and
aggregate data, which may be spatially or temporally diverse, over long periods.
These records can be used to come up with various estimates related to farming and
farm management.
(vi) Production overview: The detailed analysis of crop production, market rates,
and market demand are essential factors for a farmer to estimate optimized
crop yields and decide upon the essential steps for future cropping practices.
Agricultural IoT provides a detailed product overview on the farmers’ handheld
devices.
12.2 Case Studies

12.2.1 In-situ assessment of leaf area index using IoT-based agricultural system
In this case study, we focus on an IoT-based agricultural system developed by Bauer
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et al. [1]. LAI is a dimensionless quantity which indicates the total leaf area per unit
ground area. For determining the canopy (the portion of the plant, which is above the
ground) light, LAI plays an essential role.

Architecture
The authors integrated the hardware and software components of their
implementation in order to develop the IoT-based agricultural system for LAI
assessment. One of the important components in this system is the wireless sensor
network (WSN), which is used as the LAI assessment unit. The authors used two types
of sensors: (i) ground-level sensor (G) and (ii) reference sensor (R). These sensors are
used to measure photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The distance between the two
types of sensors must be optimal so that these are not located very far from one
another. In this system, the above-ground sensor (R) acts as a cluster head while the
other sensor nodes (Gs) are located below the canopy. These Gs and R connect and
form a star topology. A solar panel is used to charge the cluster head. The system is based
on IoT architecture. Therefore, a cluster head is attached to a central base station, which
acts as a gateway. Further, this gateway connects to an IoT infrastructure. The
architecture of the system is depicted in Figure 12.4.

IoT
MQTT infrastructure
Broker

Internet

Gateway Cluster User

Cluster
head
head

Cluster 1 Cluster 2

Figure 12.4 System architecture

Hardware
For sensing and transmitting the data from the deployment fields to a centralized unit,
such as a server and a cloud, different hardware components are used in the system. The
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) TelosB platform is used in the system. The TelosB motes
are equipped with three types of sensors: temperature, humidity, and light sensors. With
the help of an optical filter and diffuser accessory on the light sensors, the PAR is
calculated to estimate the LAI. The system is based on the cluster concept. A Raspberry-
Pi is used as a cluster head, which connects with four ground sensor motes.
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The real deployment of the LAI assessment system involves various environmental
and wild-life challenges. Therefore, for reliable data delivery, the authors take the
redundant approach of using both wired and wireless connectivity. In the first
deployment generation, USB power supply is used to power-up the sensors motes.
Additionally, the USB is used for configuring the sensor board and accessing the
failure as per requirement. In this setup, a mechanical timer is used to switch off the
sensor nodes during the night. In the second deployment generation, the cluster is
formed with wireless connectivity. The ground sensor motes consist of external
antennas, which help to communicate with the cluster head. A Raspberry-Pi with
long-term evolution (LTE) is used as a gateway in this system.

Communication
The LAI system consists of multiple components, such as WSN, IoT gateway, and IoT-
based network. All of these components are connected through wired or wireless
links. The public land mobile network (PLMN) is used to establish connectivity
between external IoT networks and the gateway. The data are analyzed and visualized
with the help of a farm management information system (FMIS), which resides in the
IoT-based infrastructure. Further, a prevalent data transport protocol: MQTT, is used
in the system. We have already explored the details of MQTT in Chapter 8. MQTT isa
very light-weight, publish/subscribe messaging protocol, which is widely used for
different IoT applications. The wireless LAN is used for connecting the cluster head
with a gateway.

Software
Software is an essential part of the system by which different operations of the system
are executed. In order to operate the TelosB motes, TinyOS, an open-source, low-power
operating system, is used. This OS is widely used for different WSN applications. Typically,
in this system, the data acquired from the sensor node is stored with a timestamp and
sequence number (SN). For wired deployments (the first-generation deployment), the
sampling rate used is 30 samples/hour. However, in the wireless deployment (the second
generation), the sampling rate is significantly reduced to 6 samples/hour.

IoT Architecture
The MQTT broker runs in the Internet server of the system. This broker is responsible for
receiving the data from the WSN. In the system, the graphical user interface (GUI) is
built using an Apache server. The visualization of the data is performed at the server
itself. Further, when a sensor fails, the server informs the users. The server can provide
different system-related information to the smartphone of the registered user.

12.2.2 Smart irrigation management system

This case study highlights a prototype of an irrigation management system [2],
developed at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, funded by the
Government of India. The primary objective of this system is to provide a Web-based
platform to the farmer for managing the water supply of an irrigated agricultural
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field. The system is capable of providing a farmer-friendly interface by which the field
condition can be monitored. With the help of this system, a farmer can take the
necessary decision for the agricultural field based on the analysis of the data.

Architecture
The architecture of this system consists of three layers: Sensing and actuating layer,
remote processing and service layer, and application layer. These layers perform
dedicated tasks depending on the requirements of the system. Figure 12.5 depicts the
architecture of the system. The detailed functionalities of different layers of this
system are as follows:

Processing Soil moisture Water level

Cluster head board sensor sensor Server

Figure 12.5 Architecture: Smart irrigation management system

(i) Sensing and Actuating layer: This layer deals with different physical devices,
such as sensor nodes, actuators, and communication modules. In the system,a
specially designated sensor node works as a cluster head to collect data from
other sensor nodes, which are deployed on the field for sensing the value of soil
moisture and water level. A cluster head is equipped with two communication
module: ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). The
communication between the deployed sensor nodes and the cluster head takes
place with the help of ZigBee. Further, the cluster heads use GPRS to transmit
data to the remote server. An electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
(EEPROM), integrated with the cluster head, stores a predefined threshold value
of water levels and soil moisture. When the sensed value of the deployed sensor
node drops below this predefined threshold value, a solenoid (pump) activates
to start the irrigation process. In the system, the standard EC-05 soil moisture
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sensor is used along with the water level sensor, which is specifically designed
and developed for this project. A water level sensor is shown in Figure 12.6(a).
(ii) Processing and Service layer: This layer acts as an intermediate layer between the
sensing and actuating layer and the application layer. The sensed and process data
is stored in the server for future use. Moreover, these data are accessibleat any
time from any remote location by authorized users. Depending on the sensed values
from the deployed sensor nodes, the pump actuates to irrigate the field. A
processing board as depicted in Figure 12.6(b) is developed for the project.

(a) Water level sensor (b) Processing board

Figure 12.6 Water level sensor and processing board

(iii) Application layer: The farmer can access the status of the pump, whether it is in
switch on/off, and the value of different soil parameters from his/her cell phone.
This information is accessible with the help of the integrated GSM facility of the
farmers’ cell phone. Additionally, an LED array indicator and LCD system is
installed in the farmers’ house. Using the LCD and LED, a farmer can easily track
the condition of his respective fields. Apart from this mechanism, a farmercan
manually access field information with the help of a Web-based application.
Moreover, the farmer can control the pump using his/her cell phone from a
remote location.
Deployment
The system has been deployed and experimented in two agricultural fields: (i) an
agricultural field at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur),
India, and (ii) Benapur, a village near IIT Kharagpur, India. Both the agricultural fields
were divided into 10 equal sub-fields of 3× 3m2. In order to examine the
performance, the system was deployed at over 4 sub-fields. Each of these sub-fields
consists of a solenoid valve, a water level sensor, and a soil moisture sensor, along with
a processing board.

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