Prof.

Niranjan L
Head, CoE-Embedded Systems
IoT-Internet of Things Dept. of ECE
22ETC15h IOT CMR Institute of Technology

Module 1
Topics under Module 1

Basics of Networking: Introduction, Network Types, Layered network models

Emergence of IoT: Introduction, Evolution of IoT, Enabling IoT and the Complex Interdependence of Technologies, IoT
Networking Components

Textbook 1: Sudip Misra, Anandarup Mukherjee, Arijit Roy, “Introduction to IoT”, Cambridge University Press 2021.

Chapter 1- 1.1 to 1.3 Chapter 4 – 4.1 to 4.4

Basics of Networking
Introduction to Networking: In the present era of data- and information-centric operations,
everything—right from agriculture to military operations—relies heavily on information. The quality of
any particular information is as good as the variety and strength of the data that generates this
information. Additionally, the speed at which data is updated to all members of a team (which may be a
group of individuals, an organization, or a country) dictates the advantage that the team has over others
in generating useful information from the gathered data. Considering the present-day global scale of
operations of various organizations or militaries of various countries, the speed and nature of germane
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information are crucial for maintaining an edge over others in the same area. To sum it up, today’s world
relies heavily on data and networking, which allows for the instant availability of information from
anywhere on the earth at any moment. Typically, networking refers to the linking of computers and
communication network devices (also referred to as hosts), which interconnect through a network
(Internet or Intranet) and are separated by unique device identifiers (Internet protocol, IP addresses
and media access control, MAC addresses). These hosts may be connected by a single path or through
multiple paths for sending and receiving data. The data transferred between the hosts may be text,
images, or videos, which are typically in the form of binary bit streams.

1.1. Network Types: Computer networks are classified according to various parameters:

1) Type of connection.

2) Physical topology.

3) Reach of the network.

These classifications are helpful in deciding the requirements of a network setup and provide insights
into the appropriate selection of a network type for the setup.

1.1.1: Connection types: Depending on the way a host communicates with other hosts, computer
networks are of two types: Point-to-point and Point-to-multipoint.

I. Point-to -point: Point-to-point connections are used to establish direct connections between two
hosts. Day-to-day systems such as a remote control for an air conditioner or television is a point
Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 to point connection, where the connection has the whole channel dedicated to it only. These
networks were designed to work over duplex links and are functional for both synchronous as
well as asynchronous systems.

II. Point-to-multipoint: In a point-to-multipoint connection, more than two hosts share the same
link. This type of configuration is similar to the one-to-many connection type. Point-to-multipoint
connections find popular use in wireless networks and IP telephony. The channel is shared
between the various hosts, either spatially or temporally. One common scheme of spatial sharing
of the channel is frequency division multiple access (FDMA). Temporal sharing of channels
include approaches such as time division multiple access (TDMA). Point-to-multipoint
connections find popular use in present-day networks, especially while enabling communication
between a massive number of connected devices.

Figure 1: Network types bases on connection types.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
1.1.2: Physical topology: Depending on the physical manner in which communication paths between
the hosts are connected, computer networks can have the following four broad topologies: Star, Mesh,
Bus, and Ring.
i. Star: In a star topology, every host has a point-to-point link to a central controller or hub. The
hosts cannot communicate with one another directly; they can only do so through the central
hub. The hub acts as the network traffic exchange. The main advantages of the star topology are
easy installation and the ease of fault identification within the network. However, the main
disadvantage of this topology is the danger of a single point of failure. If the hub fails, the whole
network fails.

ii. Mesh: In a mesh topology, every host is connected to every other host using a dedicated link (in
a point-to-point manner). This implies that for n hosts in a mesh, there are a total of n(n-1)/2
dedicated full duplex links between the hosts. This massive number of links makes the mesh
topology expensive. However, it offers certain specific advantages over other topologies. Even if
a link is down or broken, the network is still fully functional as there remain other pathways for
the traffic to flow through. The second advantage is the security and privacy of the traffic as the
data is only seen by the intended recipients and not by all members of the network. The third
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advantage is the reduced data load on a single host, as every host in this network takes care of
its traffic load.

iii. Bus: A bus topology follows the point-to-multipoint connection. A backbone cable or bus serves
as the primary traffic pathway between the hosts. The hosts are connected to the main bus
employing drop lines or taps. The main advantage of this topology is the ease of installation.
However, there is a restriction on the length of the bus and the number of hosts that can be
simultaneously connected to the bus due to signal loss over the extended bus. Multiple drop
lines and taps can be used to connect various hosts to the bus, making installation very easy
and cheap. However, the main drawback of this topology is the difficulty in fault localization
within the network.

iv. Ring: A ring topology works on the principle of a point-to-point connection. Here, each host is
configured to have a dedicated point-to-point connection with its two immediate neighboring
hosts on either side of it through repeaters at each host. The repetition of this system forms a
ring. The repeaters at each host capture the incoming signal intended for other hosts,
regenerates the bit stream, and passes it onto the next repeater. Fault identification and set up
of the ring topology is quite simple and straightforward. However, the main disadvantage of this
system is the high probability of a single point of failure. If even one repeater fails, the whole
network goes down.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
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Figure 2: Network types based on physical topologies

Table 1: Network Topology comparison.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
1.1.3: Network reachability: Computer networks are divided into four broad categories based on
network reachability: personal area networks, local area networks, wide area networks, and
metropolitan area networks.

i. Personal Area Networks (PAN): PANs, as the name suggests, are mostly restricted to individual
usage. A good example of PANs may be connected wireless headphones, wireless speakers,
laptops, smartphones, wireless keyboards, wireless mouse, and printers within a house. Generally,
PANs are wireless networks, which make use of low-range and low-power technologies such as
Bluetooth. The reachability of PANs lies in the range of a few centimeters to a few meters.

ii. Local Area Networks (LAN): A LAN is a collection of hosts linked to a single network through
wired or wireless connections. However, LANs are restricted to buildings, organizations, or
campuses. Typically, a few leased lines connected to the Internet provide web access to the whole
organization or a campus; the lines are further redistributed to multiple hosts within the LAN
enabling hosts. The hosts are much more in number than the actual direct lines to the Internet to
access the web from within the organization. This also allows the organization to define various
access control policies for web access within its hierarchy. Typically, the present-day data access
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rates within the LANs range from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, with very high fault-tolerance levels.
Commonly used network components in a LAN are servers, hubs, routers, switches, terminals,
and computers.

iii. Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN): The reachability of a MAN lies between that of a LAN and
a WAN. Typically, MANs connect various organizations or buildings within a given geographic
location or city. An excellent example of a MAN is an Internet service provider (ISP) supplying
Internet connectivity to various organizations within a city. As MANs are costly, they may not be
owned by individuals or even single organizations. Typical networking devices/components in
MANs are modems and cables. MANs tend to have moderate fault tolerance levels. (iv) Wide Area
Networks (WAN): WANs typically connect diverse geographic locations. However, they are
restricted within the boundaries of a state or country. The data rate of WANs is in the order of a
fraction of LAN’s data rate. Typically, WANs connecting two LANs or MANs may use public
switched telephone networks (PSTNs) or satellite-based links. Due to the long transmission
ranges, WANs tend to have more errors and noise during transmission and are very costly to
maintain. The fault tolerance of WANs are also generally low.

1.2: Layered Network Models

Two of the most commonly accepted and used traditional layered network models are the open systems
interconnection developed by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO-OSI) reference
model and the Internet protocol suite.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 1.2.1: OSI Model
The ISO-OSI model is a conceptual framework that partitions any networked communication device into
seven layers of abstraction, each performing distinct tasks based on the underlying technology and
internal structure of the hosts. These seven layers, from bottom-up, are as follows: 1) Physical layer, 2)
Data link layer, 3) Network layer, 4) Transport layer, 5) Session layer, 6) Presentation layer, and 7)
Application layer.

i. Physical Layer: This is a media layer and is also referred to as layer 1 of the OSI model. The physical
layer is responsible for taking care of the electrical and mechanical operations of the host at the
actual physical level. These operations include or deal with issues relating to signal generation,
signal transfer, voltages, the layout of cables, physical port layout, line impedances, and signal loss.
This layer is responsible for the topological layout of the network (star, mesh, bus, or ring),
communication mode (simplex, duplex, full duplex), and bit rate control operations. The protocol
data unit associated with this layer is referred to as a symbol.

ii. Data Link Layer: This is a media layer and layer 2 of the OSI model. The data link layer is mainly
concerned with the establishment and termination of the connection between two hosts, and the
detection and correction of errors during communication between two or more connected hosts.
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IEEE 802 divides the OSI layer 2 further into two sub-layers: Medium access control (MAC) and
logical link control (LLC). MAC is responsible for access control and permissions for connecting
networked devices; whereas LLC is mainly tasked with error checking, flow control, and frame
synchronization. The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as a frame.

iii. Network Layer: This layer is a media layer and layer 3 of the OSI model. It provides a means of
routing data to various hosts connected to different networks through logical paths called virtual
circuits. These logical paths may pass through other intermediate hosts (nodes) before reaching the
actual destination host. The primary tasks of this layer include addressing, sequencing of packets,
congestion control, error handling, and Internetworking. The protocol data unit associated with this
layer is referred to as a packet.

iv. Transport Layer: This is layer 4 of the OSI model and is a host layer. The transport layer is tasked
with end-to-end error recovery and flow control to achieve a transparent transfer of data between
hosts. This layer is responsible for keeping track of acknowledgments during variable-length data
transfer between hosts. In case of loss of data, or when no acknowledgment is received, the transport
layer ensures that the particular erroneous data segment is re-sent to the receiving host. The
protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as a segment or datagram.

v. Session Layer: This is the OSI model’s layer 5 and is a host layer. It is responsible for establishing,
controlling, and terminating of communication between networked hosts. The session layer sees

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 full utilization during operations such as remote procedure calls and remote sessions. The protocol
data unit associated with this layer is referred to as data.
vi. Presentation Layer: This layer is a host layer and layer 6 of the OSI model. It is mainly responsible
for data format conversions and encryption tasks such that the syntactic compatibility of the data is
maintained across the network, for which it is also referred to as the syntax layer. The protocol data
unit associated with this layer is referred to as data.

vii. Application Layer: This is layer 6 of the OSI model and is a host layer. It is directly accessible by an
end-user through software APIs (application program interfaces) and terminals. Applications such
as file transfers, FTP (file transfer protocol), e-mails, and other such operations are initiated from
this layer. The application layer deals with user authentication, identification of communication
hosts, quality of service, and privacy. The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to
as data.

Figure 3: Networked communication between two hosts following the OSI model.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 Table 2: Summary of OSI layers and their features.

1.2.2 Internet protocol suite

The Internet protocol suite is yet another conceptual framework that provides levels of abstraction for
ease of understanding and development of communication v and networked systems on the Internet.
However, the Internet protocol suite predates the OSI model and provides only four levels of abstraction:
1) Link layer, 2) Internet layer, 3) transport layer, and 4) application layer. This collection of protocols is
commonly referred to as the TCP/IP protocol suite as the foundation technologies of this suite are
transmission control protocol (TCP) and Internet protocol (IP).

Figure 4: Networked communication between two hosts following the TCP/IP suite.
Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 i. Link Layer: The first and base layer of the TCP/IP protocol suite is also known as the network
interface layer. This layer is synonymous with the collective physical and data link layer of the OSI
model. It enables the transmission of TCP/IP packets over the physical medium. According to its
design principles, the link layer is independent of the medium in use, frame format, and network
access, enabling it to be used with a wide range of technologies such as the Ethernet, wireless LAN,
and the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM).

ii. Internet Layer: Layer 2 of the TCP/IP protocol suite is somewhat synonymous to the network layer
of the OSI model. It is responsible for addressing, address translation, data packaging, data
disassembly and assembly, routing, and packet delivery tracking operations. Some core protocols
associated with this layer are address resolution protocol (ARP), Internet protocol (IP), Internet
control message protocol (ICMP), and Internet group management protocol (IGMP). Traditionally,
this layer was built upon IPv4, which is gradually shifting to IPv6, enabling the accommodation of a
much more significant number of addresses and security measures.

iii. Transport Layer: Layer 3 of the TCP/IP protocol suite is functionally synonymous with the
transport layer of the OSI model. This layer is tasked with the functions of error control, flow control,
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congestion control, segmentation, and addressing in an end-to-end manner; it is also independent
of the underlying network. Transmission control protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP)
are the core protocols upon which this layer is built, which in turn enables it to have the choice of
providing connection-oriented or connectionless services between two or more hosts or networked
devices.

iv. Application Layer: The functionalities of the application layer, layer 4, of the TCP/IP protocol suite
are synonymous with the collective functionalities of the OSI model’s session, presentation, and
application layers. This layer enables an end-user to access the services of the underlying layers and
defines the protocols for the transfer of data. Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), file transfer
protocol (FTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), domain name system (DNS), routing
information protocol (RIP), and simple network management protocol (SNMP) are some of the core
protocols associated with this layer.

End of Part A-Module 1

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
Emergence of IoT
1.3: Introduction: The modern-day advent of network-connected devices has given rise to the
popular paradigm of the Internet of Things (IoT). Each second, the present-day Internet allows
massively heterogeneous traffic through it. This network traffic consists of images, videos, music,
speech, text, numbers, binary codes, machine status, banking messages, data from sensors and
actuators, healthcare data, data from vehicles, home automation system status and control messages,
military communications, and many more. This huge variety of data is generated from a massive
number of connected devices, which may be directly connected to the Internet or connected through
gateway devices.

Figure 5: 10-year global trend and projection of connected devices.

One of the best examples of this explosion is the evolution of smartphones. In the late 1990’s, cellular
technology was still expensive and which could be afforded only by a select few. Moreover, these
particular devices had only the basic features of voice calling, text messaging, and sharing of low-
quality multimedia. Within the next 10 years, cellular technology had become common and easily
affordable. Most of the present-day consumers of smartphone technology tend to carry more than
one of these units. In line with this trend, other connected devices have rapidly increased in numbers
resulting in the number of devices exceeding the number of humans on Earth by multiple times.
With time, the need for location-independent access to monitored and controlled systems keep on
rising. This rise in number leads to a further rise in the number of Internet-connected devices. The
original Internet intended for sending simple messages is now connected with all sorts of “Things”.
These things can be legacy devices, modern-day computers, sensors, actuators, household
appliances, toys, clothes, shoes, vehicles, cameras, and anything which may benefit a product by
increasing its scientific value, accuracy, or even its cosmetic value.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects that contain embedded
technology to communicate and sense or interact with their internal states or the external
environment.

Figure 6: The three characteristic features-anytime,

v anywhere, and anything-highlight the
robustness and dynamic nature of IoT.

IoT is an anytime, anywhere, and anything-network of Internet-connected physical devices or

systems capable of sensing an environment and affecting the sensed environment intelligently. This
is generally achieved using low-power and low-form-factor embedded processors on-board the
“things” connected to the Internet. In other words, IoT may be considered to be made up of
connecting devices, machines, and tools; these things are made up of sensors/actuators and
processors, which connect to the Internet through wireless technologies.

1.4: Evolution of IoT

The IoT, as we see it today, is a result of a series of technological paradigm shifts over a few decades.
The technologies that laid the foundation of connected systems by achieving easy integration to
daily lives, popular public acceptance, and massive benefits by using connected solutions can be
considered as the founding solutions for the development of IoT.

Figure 7: The sequence of technological developments leading to the shaping of the modern-
day IoT.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 i. ATM: ATMs or automated teller machines are cash distribution machines, which are linked to a
user’s bank account. ATMs dispense cash upon verification of the identity of a user and their
account through a specially coded card. The central concept behind ATMs was the availability of
financial transactions even when banks were closed beyond their regular work hours. These
ATMs were ubiquitous money dispensers. The first ATM became operational and connected
online for the first time in 1974.

ii. Web: World Wide Web is a global information sharing and communication platform. The Web
became operational for the first time in 1991. Since then, it has been massively responsible for
the many revolutions in the field of computing and communication.

iii. Smart Meters: The earliest smart meter was a power meter, which became operational in early
2000. These power meters were capable of communicating remotely with the power grid. They
enabled remote monitoring of subscribers’ power usage and eased the process of billing and
power allocation from grids. Digital Locks: Digital locks can be considered as one of the earlier
attempts at connected home-automation systems. Present-day digital locks are so robust that
smartphones can be used to control them. Operations such as locking and unlocking doors,
changing key codes, including new members in the access lists, can be easily performed, and that
too remotely using smartphones.
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iv. Connected Healthcare: Here, healthcare devices connect to hospitals, doctors, and relatives to
alert them of medical emergencies and take preventive measures. The devices may be simple
wearable appliances, monitoring just the heart rate and pulse of the wearer, as well as regular
medical devices and monitors in hospitals. The connected nature of these systems makes the
availability of medical records and test results much faster, cheaper, and convenient for both
patients as well as hospital authorities.

v. Connected Vehicles: Connected vehicles may communicate to the Internet or with other vehicles,
or even with sensors and actuators contained within it. These vehicles self-diagnose themselves
and alert owners about system failures.

vi. Smart Cities: This is a city-wide implementation of smart sensing, monitoring, and actuation
systems. The city-wide infrastructure communicating amongst themselves enables unified and
synchronized operations and information dissemination. Some of the facilities which may benefit
are parking, transportation, and others.

vii. Smart Dust: These are microscopic computers. Smaller than a grain of sand each, they can be
used in numerous beneficial ways, where regular computers cannot operate. For example, smart
dust can be sprayed to measure chemicals in the soil or even to diagnose problems in the human
body.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
viii. Smart Factories: These factories can monitor plant processes, assembly lines, distribution lines,
and manage factory floors all on their own. The reduction in mishaps due to human errors in
judgment or unoptimized processes is drastically reduced.

ix. UAVs: UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles have emerged as robust public domain solutions tasked
with applications ranging from agriculture, surveys, surveillance, deliveries, stock maintenance,
asset management, and other tasks.

The present-day IoT spans across various domains and applications. Multiple domains can be
supported and operated upon simultaneously over IoT-based platforms.

Figure 8: The interdependence and reach of IoT over various application domains and
networking paradigms.

The above figure shows the various technological interdependencies of IoT with other domains and
networking paradigms such as M2M, CPS, the Internet of environment (IoE), the Internet of people
(IoP), and Industry 4.0.

i. M2M: The M2M or the machine-to-machine paradigm signifies a system of connected

machines and devices, which can talk amongst themselves without human intervention. The
communication between the machines can be for updates on machine status (stocks, health,
power status, and others), collaborative task completion, overall knowledge of the systems and
the environment, and others.

ii. CPS: The CPS or the cyber physical system paradigm insinuates a closed control loop—from
sensing, processing, and finally to actuation—using a feedback mechanism. CPS helps in
maintaining the state of an environment through the feedback control loop, which ensures that

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 until the desired state is attained, the system keeps on actuating and sensing. Humans have a
simple supervisory role in CPS-based systems; most of the ground-level operations are
automated. IoE: The IoE paradigm is mainly concerned with minimizing and even reversing
the ill-effects of the permeation of Internet-based technologies on the environment. The major
focus areas of this paradigm include smart and sustainable farming, sustainable and energy-
efficient habitats, enhancing the energy efficiency of systems and processes, and others. In
brief, we can safely assume that any aspect of IoT that concerns and affects the environment,
falls under the purview of IoE.

iii. Industry 4.0: Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution
pertaining to digitization in the manufacturing industry. The previous revolutions
chronologically dealt with mechanization, mass production, and the industrial revolution,
respectively. This paradigm strongly puts forward the concept of smart factories, where
machines talk to one another without much human involvement based on a framework of CPS
and IoT. The digitization and connectedness in Industry 4.0 translate to better resource and
workforce management, optimization of production time and resources, and better upkeep
and lifetimes of industrial systems.

iv. IoP: IoP is a new technological movement on the Internet which aims to decentralize online
social interactions, payments, transactions, and other tasks while maintaining confidentiality
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and privacy of its user’s data. A famous site for IoP states that as the introduction of the Bitcoin
has severely limited the power of banks and governments, the acceptance of IoP will limit the
power of corporations, governments, and their spy agencies.

1.4.1: IoT versus M2M

M2M or the machine-to-machine paradigm refers to communications and interactions between
various machines and devices. These interactions can be enabled through a cloud computing
infrastructure, a server, or simply a local network hub. M2M collects data from machinery and
sensors, while also enabling device management and device interaction. Telecommunication
services providers introduced the term M2M, and technically emphasized on machine interactions
via one or more communication networks (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, satellite, public networks). M2M is part
of the IoT and is considered as one of its sub-domains. M2M standards occupy a core place in the
IoT landscape. However, in terms of operational and functional scope, IoT is vaster than M2M and
comprises a broader range of interactions such as the interactions between devices/things, things,
and people, things and applications, and people with applications.

1.4.2: IoT versus CPS

Cyber physical systems (CPS) encompasses sensing, control, actuation, and feedback as a complete
package. In other words, a digital twin is attached to a CPS-based system. As mentioned earlier, a
digital twin is a virtual system–model relation, in which the system signifies a physical system or
equipment or a piece of machinery, while the model represents the mathematical model or

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
representation of the physical system’s behavior or operation. Many a time, a digital twin is used
parallel to a physical system, especially in CPS as it allows for the comparison of the physical
system’s output, performance, and health. Based on feedback from the digital twin, a physical system
can be easily given corrective directions/commands to obtain desirable outputs.

4.2.3 IoT versus WoT

From a developer’s perspective, the Web of Things (WoT) enables access and control over IoT
resources and applications. These resources and applications are generally built using technologies
such as HTML 5.0, JavaScript, Ajax, PHP, and others. REST (representational state transfer) is one of
the key enablers of WoT. The use of RESTful principles and RESTful APIs (application program
interface) enables both developers and deployers to benefit from the recognition, acceptance, and
maturity of existing web technologies without having to redesign and redeploy solutions from
scratch. Still, designing and building the WoT paradigm has various adaptability and security
challenges, especially when trying to build a globally uniform WoT. Technically, WoT can be thought
of as an application layer-based hat added over the network layer. However, the scope of IoT
applications is much broader; IoT also which includes non-IP-based systems that are not accessible
through the web.
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4.3 Enabling IoT and the Complex Interdependence of Technologies

IoT is a paradigm built upon complex interdependencies of technologies (both legacy and modern),
which occur at various planes. we can divide the IoT paradigm into four planes: services, local
connectivity, global connectivity, and processing. If we consider a bottom-up view, the services
offered fall under the control and purview of service providers. The service plane is composed of
two parts: 1) things or devices and 2) low-power connectivity. Typically, the services offered in this
layer are a combination of things and low-power connectivity. The things may be wearables,
computers, smartphones, household appliances, smart glasses, factory machinery, vending
machines, vehicles, UAVs, robots, and other such contraptions (which may even be just a sensor).
The immediate low-power connectivity, which is responsible for connecting the things in local
implementation, may be legacy protocols such as WiFi, Ethernet, or cellular. In contrast, modern-
day technologies are mainly wireless and often programmable such as Zigbee, RFID, Bluetooth,
6LoWPAN, LoRA, DASH, Insteon, and others. The range of these connectivity technologies is severely
restricted; they are responsible for the connectivity between the things of the IoT and the nearest
hub or gateway to access the Internet.
The local connectivity is responsible for distributing Internet access to multiple local IoT
deployments. This distribution may be on the basis of the physical placement of the things, on the
basis of the application domains, or even on the basis of providers of services. Services such as
address management, device management, security, sleep scheduling, and others fall within the
scope of this plane.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 v

Figure 9: The IoT planes, various enablers of IoT, and the complex interdependencies among
them.

The local connectivity plane falls under the purview of IoT management as it directly deals with
strategies to use/reuse addresses based on things and applications. The modern-day “edge
computing” paradigm is deployed in conjunction with these first two planes: services and local
connectivity. In continuation, the penultimate plane of global connectivity plays a significant role in
enabling IoT in the real sense by allowing for worldwide implementations and connectivity between
things, users, controllers, and applications. This plane also falls under the purview of IoT
management as it decides how and when to store data, when to process it, when to forward it, and
in which form to forward it.
Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
The Web, data-centers, remote servers, Cloud, and others make up this plane. The paradigm of “fog
computing” lies between the planes of local connectivity and global connectivity.

The final plane of processing can be considered as a top-up of the basic IoT networking framework.
The members in this plane may be termed as IoT tools, simply because they wring-out useful and
human-readable information from all the raw data that flows from various IoT devices and
deployments. The various sub-domains of this plane include intelligence, conversion (data and
format conversion, and data cleaning), learning (making sense of temporal and spatial data
patterns), cognition (recognizing patterns and mapping it to already known patterns), algorithms
(various control and monitoring algorithms), visualization (rendering numbers and strings in the
form of collective trends, graphs, charts, and projections), and analysis (estimating the usefulness
of the generated information, making sense of the information with respect to the application and
place of data generation, and estimating future trends based on past and present patterns of
information obtained). Various computing paradigms such as “big data”, “machine Learning”, and
others, fall within the scope of this domain.

4.4: IoT Networking Components

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Figure 10: A typical IoT network ecosystem highlighting the various networking components|
from IoT nodes to the Internet.

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 i. IoT Node: These are the networking devices within an IoT LAN. Each of these devices is
typically made up of a sensor, a processor, and a radio, which communicates with the network
infrastructure (either within the LAN or outside it). The nodes may be connected to other
nodes inside a LAN directly or by means of a common gateway for that LAN. Connections
outside the LAN are through gateways and proxies.
ii. IoT Router: An I oT router is a piece of networking equipment that is primarily tasked with the
routing of packets between various entities in the IoT network; it keeps the traffic flowing
correctly within the network. A router can be repurposed as a gateway by enhancing its
functionalities.

iii. IoT LAN: The local area network (LAN) enables local connectivity within the purview of a
single gateway. Typically, they consist of short-range connectivity technologies. IoT LANs may
or may not be connected to the Internet. Generally, they are localized within a building or an
organization.

iv. IoT WAN: The wide area network (WAN) connects various network segments such as LANs.
They are typically organizationally and geographically wide, with their operational range lying
v
between a few kilometers to hundreds of kilometers. IoT WANs connect to the Internet and
enable Internet access to the segments they are connecting.

v. IoT Gateway: An IoT gateway is simply a router connecting the IoT LAN to a WAN or the
Internet. Gateways can implement several LANs and WANs. Their primary task is to forward
packets between LANs and WANs, and the IP layer using only layer 3.

vi. IoT Proxy: Proxies actively lie on the application layer and performs application layer
functions between IoT nodes and other entities. Typically, application layer proxies are a
means of providing security to the network entities under it ; it helps to extend the addressing
range of its network.

End of Part B-Module 1

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru
 Important Questions

Part A-Module 1

1. Differentiate between point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connection types.

2. Discuss the pros and cons of the following network topologies:
i. Star
ii. Ring
iii. Bus
iv. Mesh
3. How are PANs different from LANs?
4. How are MANs different from WANs?
5. What is the ISO-OSI model?
6. Discuss the highlights of the seven layers of the OSI stack.
7. What is the Internet protocol suite?
8. How is the Internet protocol suite different from the ISO-OSI model?
9. How is data link addressing different from network addressing?
v
Part B-Module 1

1. What is IoT?
2. What is smart dust?
3. Differentiate between IoT and M2M.
4. Differentiate between IoT and WoT.
5. What is Web of Things (WoT)?
6. What are the various IoT connectivity terminologies?
7. Differentiate between an IoT proxy and an IoT gateway.

END of Module 1

Prof. Niranjan L, Head of CoE-Embedded Systems, Dept. of ECE, CMR Institute of Technology, Bengaluru