Chapter 5

Real-time Communication
5.1 Basic concepts and examples of real time communication

Communication between electronic devices is like communication between humans. Both sides needs to
speak the same language. In electronics, these languages are called communication protocols. In previous
chapters, we have discussed the basics of the most common protocols: SPI, I2C,CAN ,USB,UART and
USART. These all are ideal for communication between microcontrollers and between microcontrollers and
sensors where large amounts of high-speed data don’t need to be transferred.

Real-time communication is a type of data communication that happens in real time with instant responses
from both parties. It is a synchronous type of communication and the most common examples are video
calling, video conferencing, and others. Real-time communications can take place in half-duplex or full-
duplex modes:

 Half-duplex RTC. Data transmission can happen in both directions on a single carrier or circuit but

not at the same time.

 Full-duplex RTC. Data transmission can occur in both directions simultaneously on a single carrier

or circuit.

Embedded Networking Fundamentals:

Microcontrollers are used to design intelligent embedded systems such as smartphones, netbooks, digital
TVs, mp3 players, smart-watches, smart-sensors, etc. These smart things can be connected together to form
an embedded network that imparts intelligence to bigger things like homes, buildings, fields, forests and
cities. An embedded network of smart things like automatic home appliances, lights, door sensors, CCTV
cameras, refrigerators, etc. can provide smart-home users with more convenient and high-quality living
experience.

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 Fig: Embedded Network

Ethernet is a local area network (LAN) technology that is widely used to connect computers using wires or
cables. Ethernet is similar to Wi-Fi technology, but with a different medium. Ethernet is wired, and Wi-Fi
is wireless. Ethernet is based on standards (IEEE 802.3) that ensure reliability of network connections and
data transmission and interoperability. Ethernet networks are scalable from the simplest to most complex
networks or up to 2 48 network nodes. So that embedded systems can use wireless and wired networks for
device-to-device communications. Starting from PAN (like Bluetooth) to WAN (by using cloud services
like IOT) networks can be used for embedded system applications.

 Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT is an advanced automation and analytics system, which deals with artificial intelligence, sensor,
networking, electronic, cloud messaging etc. to deliver complete systems for the product or services. The
system created by IoT has greater transparency, control, and performance.
As we have a platform such as a cloud that contains all the data through which we connect all the things
around us. For example, a house, where we can connect our home appliances such as air conditioner, light,
etc. through each other and all these things are managed at the same platform. Since we have a platform, we
can connect our car, track its fuel meter, speed level, and also track the location of the car.

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  How does Internet of Thing (IoT) Work?
The working of IoT is different for different IoT echo system (architecture). However, the key concept of
there working are similar. The entire working process of IoT starts with the device themselves, such as
smartphones, digital watches, electronic appliances, which securely communicate with the IoT platform.
The platforms collect and analyze the data from all multiple devices and platforms and transfer the most
valuable data with applications to devices.

Embedded Devices (System) in (IoT)

An embedded device system generally runs as a single application. However, these devices can connect
through the internet connection, and able communicate through other network devices.

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The Internet of Things depends on embedded systems; it should be mentioned (IoT). By offering processing
power, data processing, connectivity, and additional resources, they make it possible to build sensor-based
applications. These can collect and analyze data from many sources.
Embedded systems are essential for connecting and integrating devices to provide user-friendly applications
and interfaces. As the foundation of the Internet of Things, these systems' capabilities will expand as
technology advances.

Figure: The IOT layers/interactions

Challenges of IOT
 Connectivity: There is not one connectivity standard that “wins” over the others. There are wide
varieties of wired and wireless standards as well as proprietary implementations used to connect
the things in the IoT. The challenge is getting the connectivity standards to talk to one another
with one common worldwide data currency.
 Power management: More things within the IoT need to be battery powered or use energy
harvesting to be more portable and self-sustaining. Line-powered equipment need to be more
energy efficient. The challenge is making it easy to add power management to these devices and
equipment. Wireless charging incorporates connectivity with charge management.
 Complexity: Manufacturers are looking to add connectivity to devices and equipment that has
never been connected before to become part of the IoT. Ease of design and development is
essential to get more thigs connected is complex. Additionally, the average consumer needs to
be able to set-up and use their devices without a technical background.

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  Rapid evolution: The IoT is constantly changing and evolving. More devices are being added
every day. The challenge facing the industry is the unknown; unknown devices, unknown
applications, unknown use cases. There needs to be flexibility in development.
 Security: Security is always a challenge in data networks. This challenge intensifies in the case
of the IoT simply because there are more entry points thereby creating more penetration points.
This increased system vulnerability makes the battle for security inevitable. In an IoT solution,
threats also take a new level of magnitude since it is not just data that is put at risk. With IoT the
damage potential is much higher (e.g., opening a door remotely, taking a burglar alarm system
offline). There will surely be a never-ending fight towards better security. This provides inbuilt
security features to address major security requirements.
 Data handling: Massive deployment of endpoints results in higher node density. This requires
demand for higher capacity. Furthermore, large quantities of data that are generated create a need
for accessible storage. In addition, real network latency introduces a challenge to limited
resource systems.

 Wireless Networks for Embedded systems

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are networks of tiny, battery powered sensor nodes with limited onboard
processing, storage and radio capabilities. Recent advances in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)
technology, embedded electronics and wireless communication have made it possible to develop low-power
and low-cost sensor nodes that are small in size and communicate using wireless medium over short
distances.

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The sensor units in the nodes can sense any desired parameter (like temperature, pressure humidity,
movement etc.) in an area that is covered by the network. The sensed data is then relayed through the
network to the base station, where information can be generated and acted upon to serve the purpose for
which the network has been deployed.

WSNs are on the verge of being utilized for many challenging real-life applications like early earthquake
warning systems, battlefield surveillance, environment and habitat monitoring, healthcare, smart homes and
buildings etc... This involves deploying a large number of nodes in the area to be sensed by the network.
This large-scale deployment often requires the nodes to possess self-organizing capability to form a network
without any human intervention.

Wireless communication has become a preferred choice for connecting the devices in embedded networks.
Communication technologies like NFC, ZigBee, Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular have already become popular
with developers working on Smart Homes, Sensor Networks and IoT based applications. The choice of a
connectivity option depends upon various factors like communication range, bandwidth requirements,
security issues, and power consumption.

 Sensor and actuators

Sensors and actuators are critical components of embedded systems. These are utilized in various real-
world applications, including flight control systems in aircraft, process control systems in nuclear reactors,
and power plants that require automated control.
Although Sensors and actuators are often found in similar areas of applications i.e. in equipment and systems
within industries and often interact, they are still two separate components. They are often said
complementary to each other and work together to ensure that different assets and systems are operating
effectively. In one line Sensors are detectors whereas actuators are mover. Both play an important role in
process control units and conditional maintenance.
 What is Sensor?
Sensors are such devices which are used to convert physical quantities, events or characteristics into the
electrical signals for the purpose of monitoring and controlling. So sensor takes input from environment and
converts into electrical form then fed to the system or controller. Sensor works as an input device

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 Features of Sensors

There are various features of Sensors. Some main features of Sensors are:

1. A sensor could be either active or passive. Active sensors necessitate a power source, but passive
doesn't necessitate a power source.
2. It is a device that monitors and measures changes in the environment.
3. It is responsible for converting physical quantities into electrical signals.
4. It is connected to a system's input.
5. It generates an electrical signal as its output

 What is Actuator

A device that changes electrical signals into mechanical/ physical events is known as an actuator. It is used
to cause movement or a change in the surroundings. For instance, a fan is utilized to lower the temperature,
and a servomotor is utilized to change position, among other things.

Actuators are connected to a system's output. It receives an electrical signal as input and produces
mechanical movement as output. It receives input or instruction from a system or a signal conditioning
device and outputs it to the environment.

The actuator is dependent on the sensor data. The sensor sends data to a signal condition unit, which
analyzes the data or information and transmits commands to the actuator depending on that data.

 Features of Actuators

There are various features of Actuators. Some main features of Actuators are:

1. The actuator assists in managing the environment based on sensor readings.

2. A device that converts electrical signals into mechanical movement is known as an actuator.
3. It requires an additional power source to function.
4. It receives an electrical signal as input.
5. It is connected to a system's output.
6. It produces mechanical work.

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 Resource reservation
Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) is used in real-time systems for an efficient quality band
transmission to a particular receiver. It is generally used by the receiver side for the fast delivery of the
transmission packets from the sender to the receiver.
Features of Resource Reservation Protocol:
 RSVP is receiver initiated. Receiver node in the real time system initiates the protocol.
 RSVP is simplex(unidirectional). The receiver node just receives the packets and does not want to
send any data.
 Quality of Service is provided by RSVP protocol.
 It is actually not a routing protocol. It depends upon other routing protocols.
 RSVP operates at the Transport layer of the OSI model and is used to reserve resources for a specific
flow of data between a sender and receiver.
 It can be used for both unicast and multicast communication.
 RSVP uses soft state mechanism, which means that it periodically refreshes the state information
for a particular flow of data.
 It supports different types of traffic, including constant bit rate, variable bit rate, and on-demand
traffic.
 It is widely used in multimedia applications such as video conferencing, streaming, and online
gaming.
There are two specifications of RSVP
Flow specification is used in RSVP to determines the different parameters like bandwidth, link
strength, congestion, etc for smooth and collisionless communication and data transfer.
Filter specification is used in RSVP for filtering of the packets. It is used to route the packets
according to its destination type as a fixed or shared receiver.
Types of messages used in RSVP connection establishment:
 Reservation Message (resv): The receiver sends the Reservation Message (resv) to the sender,
which specifies all the required resources and parameters for the reservation to establish.
 Path Message (path): Upon receiving the reservation message from the receiver, the sender
records all the necessary resources to be reserved and records the path. The sender multicasts
a Path Message (path) to all the receivers, which specifies the routing details of the packet. It
also contains all the necessary specifications about the reservation to be made for the receiver

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 Traffic shaping and policing
 Traffic policing
Traffic policing is basically a mechanism which monitors the traffic in any network by using an action
to packets that conform to a specified rate. The policies in the network keeps a check on the number
of tokens in the bucket. In traffic policing one token usually represents one byte of traffic. It can be
used to control inbound and outbound traffic. It also maintains control over the excess traffic.
 Traffic Shaping
Traffic shaping is basically a congestion control mechanism that delays some packets to bring them
at par with other traffic components. It increases the latency and the bandwidth of packets. It makes
traffic conform to a certain rate by giving the packets some delay. Traffic shaping can be used to
control outbound traffic only. It also does queuing of packets.

Difference between Traffic Policing and Traffic Shaping

Traffic Policing Traffic Shaping

The term "traffic policing" refers to a system that Packet delays are caused by traffic shaping, which is a
monitors traffic in a network. congestion control method.

Packets with rates higher than the rate of traffic It buffers packets at a rate that is higher than the traffic
policing are rejected. shaping rate.

Bytes per second are used to calculate the token Bits per second are used to calculate the token values.
values.

The presence of traffic policing does not cause delays. Packet delay is caused by traffic shaping.

Outbound or incoming traffic can be controlled via Only outward traffic can be controlled using traffic
traffic policing. shaping

Traffic policing aids in the implementation of traffic Traffic remarking is not supported by traffic shaping
remarking.

“END”