FROM SENSORS TO CLOUD: TRACKING THE IOT TRAIL AMPHENOL COMMUNICATIONS SOLUTIONS
The Internet of Things (IoT) describes a collection of inter-networked low-power devices designed to bring resource and utilization efficiency to personal, commercial, industrial, or urban settings with the aid of embedded sensors, drivers, and controllers. The decision to equip an application with IoT is often tied to the need to control costs, energy use, and carbon footprint. Briefly, an IoT application contains a system of sensors, computers, gateways, software, and internet connectivity. The sensors measure temperature, light, humidity, air quality, or any aspects of the environment that can then trigger alerts based on a given set of thresholds, like reporting a water leakage after a pressure drop is detected in city plumbing. The alerts are processed by drivers or controllers and routed through gateways to the cloud either wirelessly through licensed cellular technologies like LTE and non-licensed low-power long-range protocols like LPWAN, or through the wire, like Ethernet LANs. COMMON IOT APPLICATIONS IN SMART INFRASTRUCTURE Buildings like apartment complexes or commercial establishments span several stories totaling hundreds of rooms. Their routine operation and
maintenance involve computerized management systems that run on cables crisscrossing through walls and ceilings. Implementing IoT in buildings lends flexibility through wireless technology and brings automation through machine learning. Sensors pick up critical data concerning security, access, HVAC, lights, power, fire safety, gas leaks, and parking. Network gateways use building protocols like BACnet over Bluetooth to route the data to an on-premise server. The system can derive utilization trends from this data and suggest energy-efficient models of management for lights, valves, motors, actuators, and other devices. For example, how late into the evening must interior or exterior lighting stay on if the past month’s records show employees leaving the office before dusk? Could light and motion sensors be used in an automated scheme? Governments can address the safety and security of their citizens by investing in smart city technologies. One such idea is to use IoT to direct sensor measurements through LPWAN or 5G to public authorities. Notable applications include street lighting, environmental disaster management, air and water quality, waste management, ground and aerial surveillance, public transportation, traffic management, and city parking.
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