BCSE401L: Internet of Things

Avuthu Avinash, Ph.D.,

Assistant Professor, Dept. of SCOPE, VIT Chennai

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein

 What is IoT?
 Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of smart physical objects
 physical objects (e.g. devices, vehicles, buildings, etc.) embedded with
sensors/actuators,
computation unit, memory unit, power source, and network connectivity,
 which enables the physical object to collect and exchange data,
 analyze the collected data to extract new insight and respond accordingly.

Goal of IoT is to “connect the unconnected”

 “Things” or “objects” that were not supposed to be connected to the Internet

 IoT did the technology transition

in traditional computer
networks
Cont…
• Unifications of technologies:
• Embedded systems,
• Low power and low rate network,
• Internet,
• Big data,
• Data analytics,
• Cloud computing,
• Edge Intelligence
• Software defined networks,
• Network and data security
• Etc.

• Alternate Definition:

“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.” – Gartner Research*

* https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/internet-of-things
 Brief History of IoT
 The term "Internet of things" was likely coined by Kevin Ashton of Procter &
Gamble, later MIT's Auto-ID Center, in 1999.
 “In the 20th century, computers were brains without senses — they only knew what we told them.” Now in
the 21st century, computers are sensing things for themselves! – Kevin Ashton

 Early 1980s at the Carnegie Melon University, a group of students created a way to get
their campus Coca-Cola vending machine to report on its contents through a network
in order to save them the trek if the machine was out of Coke.

 In 1990, John Romkey, developer of the first TCP/IP stack for IBM PC in 1983,
connected a toaster to the internet for the first time.

 In 1991, a group of students at the University of Cambridge used a web camera to

report on coffee available in their computer labs coffee pot.

 At the beginning of the 21st Century, LG Electronics introduced the world’s

first refrigerator connected to the internet
Cont…
 The popularity of the term IoT did not accelerate until 2010/2011 and reached
mass market in 2013-14.

 Definition of the IoT has evolved over time.

2010 onwards
Early 2000
Post 1993
1990

Evolutionary Phases of the Internet

 Benefits of IoT
• Automation
o Machines can assemble parts with more precision and speed, resulting in fewer errors during
assembly
o Robots can very rapidly detect faults that may not be detected by the human eye

• Predictive Maintenance
o Continuous monitoring of systems and processes to identify key indicators of problems
before they
result in downtime or system failure

• Process / Efficiency Improvement

o Process improvement affects every aspect of an operation’s bottom line

• Cost Reduction
o When an organization can improve system uptime, automate processes, reduce the risk of failure and
gain insights that support better decision making, and reduce resource usage, the result is efficiency
and cost savings

• Improved/ New Insights

o IoT systems often act as the eyes and ears on remote, hard-to-reach, or widely distributed equipment
and processes.

• Adaptability
o The ability to adapt to new business requirements, customer needs, and changing conditions, or scale
the deployment in response to business growth or customer requirements
 IoT vs. WSN
• Wireless Sensor Network (WSN):

– WSN refers to a group of specialized dedicated sensors with a communications

infrastructure.

– WSN is primarily used for monitoring and recording the physical environment
conditions like temperature, sound, pollution levels, humidity, wind, and so on.

– It is designed to acquire, process, transfer, and provide data/information extracted

from the physical world.

– In a WSN, there is no direct connection to the internet. Instead, the various sensors
connect to some kind of router or central node.

• WSN: Resource constraint sensor nodes + wireless network to connect the

nodes + gather some data by sensing the environment.

• IoT: WSN + Internet + App + Cloud computing + Data Analytics + etc…

Growth of IoT Devices

IoT Analytics’
prediction
Source: https://iot-analytics.com/state-of-the-iot-2020-12-billion-iot-connections-surpassing-non-iot-for-the-first-time/
Where is IoT?
Wearable
Tech Devices

Smart Appliances

It’s
everywhere!

Industry Automation
and Monitoring
Healthcare
 Global IoT Market Share
14% Smart Homes Retail < 2%

3%
Wearables Smart Utilities
& Energy
4%

7%
Industrial IoT
Connected Cars
24%

20%* Healthcare 20%*

Personal Health
Smart Cities 26%
Source: https://growthenabler.com/flipbook/pdf/IOT%20Report.pdf
Global Spending on IoT

Source: https://iot-analytics.com/iot-market-size/
 IoT Ecosystem
IoT is not just a technology; it is an ecosystem!

• Community components:
 IoT Frameworks
• Tools needed to design and implement IoT-based solutions and products

 IoT Architectures
• Graphical structure of the designed IoT-based solutions and products

 IoT Core
• Sensors & Actuators, microcontrollers, internet connectivity, service platform including security

 IoT Gateway
• It carries the responsibility to ensure bidirectional communication between IoT protocols and other networks

 Cloud
• Accepts, accumulates, maintains, stores, and process data in real time

 Analytics
• It indulges in conversion and analysis of data which results in recommendations and future decision making

 User Interface / Visualization

• Design sleek, visually appealing, interactive, and ease-of-use graphical user interface
IoT Framework
• Framework provides a development environment.

– It provides appropriate infrastructure to design and implement the architecture

• IoT framework comprises of large number of components

– sensors, sensor systems, gateways, mobile app, embedded controller, data management
platform, analytical platform, and so on.

– support interoperability among all devices, provides secure connectivity, reliability in data
transfer, interface to 3rd party application to built on it, and so on.

Few IoT Framework Few IoT Framework

RTI (Real-Time Innovations) Connext DDS Cisco Ultra IoT
Salesforce IoT cloud Microsoft Azure IoT
Eclipse IoT PTC ThingWorx
GE (General Electronic) Predix Amazon AWS IoT
IBM Watson IoT Kaa
Core Components of IoT

• Sensors - to gather data and events

• Actuators – responsible for moving and

controlling a mechanism or system
Sensors & Internet • Microcontrollers - automatically controls
Actuators Connectivity sensors and actuators; makes them smart

• Internet connectivity – responsible for

Micro Service sharing information and control command
controllers Platform
• Service Platform – ability to deploy and
manage the IoT devices and applications
including data management, data analytics
and all aspects of security
 The
 “Things”
Sensors & Actuators are the fundamental building blocks
of IoT
 Sensor senses
 Actuator acts Sensor

 Smart objects are any physical objects that contain

 Embedded technology
 Microcontroller unit, memory storage, power supply,
communication ports, input and output, timer or
Actuator
counter
 Sensors and/or actuators

 Smart objects are to sense and/or interact with their

environment in a meaningful way
 being interconnected, and
 enabling communication among themselves or with
external agent.
Smart Object
 Sensors
• It measures some physical quantity and converts that measurement into analog/digital
form

• There are a number of ways to group and cluster sensors into different categories

 Based on external energy requirement  Based on application industry

• Active / Passive
• Medical / Manufacturing /
 Based on placement location Agriculture / etc.
• Invasive / Non-invasive
 Based on measuring scale
 Based on distance from the sensing object • Absolute / Relative
• Contact / No-contact

 Based on sensing mechanism

• Thermoelectric / Electromechanical / Piezo resistive / Optic / Electric / Fluid mechanics / Photoelastic /
etc.

 Based on sensing parameter

• Position / Occupancy / Motion / Velocity / Force / Pressure / Flow / Humidity / Light / Temperature /
Acoustic / Radiation / Chemical / Biosensors / etc.
 Sensor Types: What it measures
Sensor Type Description Example
Position • Measures the position of an object • Proximity sensor
• Position could be absolute/relative • Potentiometer
• Position sensor could be linear, angular, • Inclinometer
or multi-axis

Occupancy • Detects the presence of people and • Radar Sensor

animals in a surveillance area
• Generates signal even when a
person is
stationary

Motion • Detects the movement of people and • Passive Infrared (PIR)

objects Sensor

Ultrasonic Proximity Infrared Proximity Microwave Radar PIR Motion

Sensor Sensor Sensor Sensor
 Cont…
Sensor Type Description Example
Velocity and • Velocity sensor measures how fast an • Gyroscope
Acceleration object moves • Accelerometer
• Acceleration sensor measures the
changes in velocity

Force • Detects whether a physical force is • Tactile sensor

applied and the magnitude of the force • Viscometer
Pressure • Measuring the force applied by liquids • Barometer
or gases • Piezometer
• It is measured as force per unit area

Gyroscope Capacitive Touch Sensor Barometric Pressure Sensor

 Cont…
Sensor Type Description Example
Flow • Detects the rate of fluid flow through a • Water meter
system in given period of time • Anemometer
Humidity • Detects amount of water vapour in the air • Hygrometer
• Can be measured in absolute/relative scale • Soil moisture sensor
Light • Detects the presence of light • LDR light sensor
• Photodetector
• Flame Sensor

Soil moisture LDR light Flame

Water meter
sensor sensor sensor
 Cont…
Sensor Type Description Example
Radiation • Detects the radiation in the environment • Neutron detector
• Geiger-Muller counter
Temperature • Measures the amount of heat or cold • Thermometer
present in the system • Temperature gauge
• Two type: contact / non-contact • Calorimeter

Neutron detector Geiger-Muller counter Temperatur Thermo-

e Sensor Hygromete
r
 Cont…
Sensor Type Description Example
Acoustic • Measures sound level • Microphone
• Hydrophone
Chemical • Measures the concentration of a • Smoke detector
chemical (e.g. CO2) in a system • Breathalyzer
Biosensor • Detects various biological elements, such • Pulse oximeter
as organisms, tissues, cells, enzymes, • Electrocardiograph (ECG)
antibodies, nucleic acid, etc. • Blood glucose biosensor

Hydrophone Breathalyzer Pulse oximeter

Sensors in a Smart Car
Sensors in a Smartphone
 Actuator
s Sensors are designed to sense and measure the surrounding environment
•

• Actuators receive some type of control signal (commonly an electrical

signal or digital command) that triggers a physical effect, usually some
type of motion, force, and so on.

Source: https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/1878050/Landingpages/Events/Schwabengipfel/Guido_Schmutz_IoT-Cloud-or-OnPrem.pdf?t=1501051153000
Actuator Classification
• Common ways to classify actuators:

 Type of motion they produce

• e.g. linear, rotary, one/two/three axes

 Power output
• e.g. high power, low power, micro power

 Binary / Continuous output

• Based on number of stable-state outputs

 Area of application
• Specific industry or vertical where they are used

 Type of energy
• e.g. mechanical energy, electrical energy, hydraulic energy, etc.
Actuators by Energy Type

Type Examples

Mechanical actuators Lever, Screw jack, Hand crank

Electrical actuators Thyristor, Bipolar transistor, Diode

Electromechanical actuators AC motor, DC motor, Step motor

Electromagnetic actuators Electromagnet, Linear solenoid

Hydraulic and Pneumatic Hydraulic cylinder, Pneumatic cylinder, Piston,

actuators Pressure control valve, Air motor

Smart material actuator (includes Magnetorestrictive material, Bimetallic strip,

thermal and magnetic actuators) Piezoelectric bimorph
 “Things” in IoT – Actuators

4 Channel 5V Relay Servo Motor DC Motor Solenoid valve

LED LCD Diplay

Linear Actuators
 Smart Objects
• It is the building blocks of IoT

• Smart object has the following five characteristics:

– Sensor(s) and/or Actuator(s)

– Processing unit
• For acquiring sensed data from sensors,
• processing and analysing sensing data,
• coordinating control signals to any actuators, and
• controlling many functions (e.g. communication unit, power unit).

– Memory
• Mostly on-chip flash memory
• user memory used for storing application related data
• program memory used for programming the device

– Communication unit
• Responsible for connecting a smart object with other smart
objects and the outside world (via the network using
wireless/wired communication)

– Power source
• To powered all components of the smart object
TelosB Mote
Cont…

Source: Cisco
 Access Technologies in IoT
Communication IoT Access Technologies
Criteria
 Range
 Frequency Bands
 Power Consumption
 Topology
 Constrained Devices
 Constrained-Node
Networks
Range
Frequency Bands, Power Consumption and
Topology
Access Technologies in IoT: Long Range
Comparison of Constrained devices
 Constrained node networks

A group of constrained nodes are communicated in networks is called as

"constrained node networks" and following characteristics
Low achievable bitrate/throughput (including limits on duty cycle)
High packet loss (delivery rate)
Severe penalties for using larger packets (e.g., high packet loss due to link-
layer fragmentation)
Limits on reachability over time (a substantial number of devices may power
off at any point in time but periodically "wake up" and can communicate for
brief periods of time)
Lack of (or severe constraints on) advanced services such as IP multicast.
Two types of Constrained node networks:
1. Low-Power and Lossy Network (LLN)
2. Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network (LoWPAN)
Constrained node networks
LLN: Typically composed of many embedded devices with limited power,
memory, and processing resources interconnected by a variety of links, such
as IEEE 802.15.4 or low-power Wi-Fi. Application areas for LLNs, including
 Industrial monitoring
 Building automation (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning lighting, fire)
 Health care
 Environmental monitoring
 Assets tracking
LoWPAN: It inspired from the name of an IEEE 802.15.4 working group.
Application areas including
 Urban monitoring
 Control of large buildings
 Industrial control applications
 Comparison of IoT OS

• A Real Time Operating System, commonly known as an RTOS, is a software component that rapidly switches
between tasks, giving the impression that multiple programs are being executed at the same time on a single
processing core.
Comparison of IoT OS
Internet
Key Advantages of IP
 Open and standard-based
 Versatile
 Ubiquitous
 Scalable
 Manageable
 Highly secure
 Stable and resilient

• IPv6 packets require a minimum MTU/PDU size of 1280 bytes.

• The maximum size of a MAC layer frame in IEEE 802.15.4 is 127
bytes.
– It gives just 102 bytes for an IPv6 packet !!

Need of packet/frame size optimization due to

 Constrained Nodes
 Constrained Networks
 IoT Gateway
• It is a physical device or software
program that serves as the connection
point between the two different types
of networks

• Provide bidirectional communication

 Between IoT protocols and other
networks
• e.g. Zigbee <--> Ethernet

• Sometimes programmed to execute

some processing operations
 Edge computing

• It is necessary to maintain security

to a
certain extent
 Can shield the entire IoT systems
from
any cyberattack
Source: B. Kang, D. Kim, H. Choo, “Internet of Everything: A Large-Scale Autonomic IoT Gateway”,
IEEE Transactions on Multi-scale Computing Systems, vol. 3, no. 3, 2017, pp. 206-214.
 Use of Cloud

• IoT generates vast amount of Big Data;

• this in turn puts a huge strain on
Internet Infrastructure.

• Cloud can facilitate to

– Provide different services
– Store huge amount of data
– Process the data efficiently

• Benefits of Cloud Platform in IoT

– Network Scalability
– Data Mobility
– Time to market
– Security
– Cost-effectiveness
AI for IoT
• AI focuses on putting human intelligence in machine
• It gives the ability to a machine/program to think and learn by itself

Use of AI in IoT:
• Smart Home
– Automated HVAC control

• Industrial IoT
– Predictive maintenance
– Optimized supply chain

• Farming
– Smart farming
– Interruption warning

• Self-driving Car
– Mimic human driving on road

• Health
– Auto-diagnosing any disease
– Assistive healthcare
 Data Analytics in IoT
“Data Analytics + IoT => Smart Business Solutions”

 The business value of IoT is not just in the ability to connect devices, but
it comes from understanding the data these devices create.
Challenges:
 Huge Volume
 Real-time data flow
 Variety of data
types
 e.g. XML, video, SMS
 Unstructured data

Variable data model and
meaning / value

 IoT analytics is the application of data analysis tools and procedures to realize
value from the huge volumes of data generated by connected IoT devices
Securing IoT
• Both the IoT manufacturers and their customers didn’t care about the security !

Unauthorized access to IoT devices Unauthorized access to IoT network

Source:https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/26/ddos-
attack-dyn-mirai-botnet Source:http://metropolitan.fi/entry/ddos-attack-halts-heating-in-
finland-amidst-winter

Major cyber attack disrupts internet DDoS attack halts heating in

service across Europe and US; Finland amidst winter;
October 26, 2016 November 7, 2016
Smart City

Source: https://depositphotos.com/126025652/stock-illustration-smart-city-concept-and-internet.html
Smart Home

Source: https://medium.com/@globalindnews/north-america-accounted-for-major-share-in-the-global-smart-home-healthcare-market-in-2015-cc9cc1974ac5
Smart Healthcare

Source: http://iot.fit-foxconn.com/
Industrial IoT

Source: https://www.winmate.com/Solutions/Solutions_IoT.asp
Connected Cars

Source: Vehicular K. Ziadi, M. Rajarajan, “Internet:

Security & Privacy Challenges and Opportunities”,
Future Internet 2015, 7(3), 257-275.
Google’s Self-Driving Car

Source: https://www.google.com/
Smart Agriculture

Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/515380751093603767/?lp=true
Livestock Management

Source: https://data-flair.training/blogs/iot-applications-in-agriculture/
Many More ….

Source: Rajiv Ranjan et. al., “Integrating the IoT

and Data Science” IEEE Cloud Computing, 2018
 Main Challenges in IoT
Sensors Scale Privacy Security
• Limited resources • millions of devices • which • “things”
• Limited types are connected to personal data becomes
of sensors form IoT to share with connected, so
whom security becomes
• how to control complex

Low Power Big data and

Network Data analytics
• Devices should remain connected to the • massive amount of sensor data
Internet for years • different sources and various forms
• High network latency • extract intelligence form the heaps of data

Interoperability
• various protocol, various architecture
• unavailability of standardized platform
• different technology leads to interoperability issue
• Recent IoT standards are minimizing this problem
Traditional Data Flow in IoT

IoT Network Core Network

Image Source: http://events17.linuxfoundation.org/sites/events/files/slides/Intelligence%20at%20the%20Edge.pdf

 What is Architectural Plan?
Smart
 In present days, Home
networks
run the modern business
 So, it should never be
built
without careful planning

 Architecture is how you design (i.e. Driving forces:

graphical structure) your application or  Scale
solution.  Security
 Essence of IoT  Constrained
architecture: devices
 how the data is  Massive data
 transported,
 collected,  Data analysis
 analyzed,  Support to legacy
and devices
 ultimately
 Basic 3-Layer architecture
• Perception layer is the physical layer, which has sensors for sensing and gathering
information about the environment.

• Network layer is responsible for connecting to other smart things, network devices,
and servers. Its features are also used for transmitting and processing sensor data.

• Application layer is responsible for delivering application specific services to the user.
– For example, smart homes, smart
cities, smart health, etc.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/641129696942354756/
 Emergence of Standard IoT Architecture
• However, the basic 3-layer architecture did not address many issues.
– e.g. Compatibility, Safety & Security, Reusability, Heterogeneity, etc.

• In fact, the IoT did not have any standard defined architecture of working which is strictly followed universally.

Few Issues:

 Highly fragmented marked with limited vendor-

specific applications

 Each silo contains its own technologies without

interoperability

 Incompatibility for seamless integration between

heterogeneous applications and devices

• So, in the past several years, architectural standards and frameworks have emerged

• Two best-known architectures:

– oneM2M architecture
– IoT World Forum architecture
Source: https://onem2m.org/using-onem2m/developers/basics
 oneM2M Architecture
Goal of oneM2M architecture:
• to create a common services layer, which can be readily embedded in field
devices to allow communication with application servers.

Challenges in IoT Architecture: • Using the smart building use case, a

• heterogeneity of devices, security application can detect when
• heterogeneity of software, nobody is in the building.
• Heterogeneity of access methods • It could then trigger lights to be switched
off and for the HVAC system to operate
on a reduced setting.
Image Source: https://onem2m.org/using-onem2m/developers/basics
oneM2M Architecture
• Proposed by Européen Télécommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
• oneM2M architecture divides IoT functions into three major domains.
First

• Defines application-layer protocols

• Attempts to standardize northbound API

• API stands for Application Programming Interface.

Note: Interface can be thought of as a contract of

service between two applications or parties. This
contract defines how the two communicate with each
other using requests and responses.

• A northbound interface allows a particular

component of a network to communicate with a
higher-level component.

• Applications have their own sets of data models

oneM2M Architecture
• Proposed by Européen Télécommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
• oneM2M architecture divides IoT functions into three major domains.
First Second
• horizontal framework
across the vertical
industry applications.

• Include:
• the physical
network that the
IoT applications
run on. (e.g.
backhaul network)
• the underlying
management
protocols
• the hardware
co
nt
oneM2M Architecture
• Proposed by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
• oneM2M architecture divides IoT functions into three major domains.
First Second
• top is the common
services layer

• This layer adds APIs and

middleware supporting
third-party services and
applications.

• Service layer can be

readily embedded within
various hardware and
software nodes

• A RESTful API uses HTTP

requests to GET, PUT,
POST and DELETE data.
oneM2M Architecture
• Proposed by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
• oneM2M architecture divides IoT functions into three major domains.
First Second Third

IoT devices, &

communication
network
(802.15.4, LoRa,
WiFi)
 IoTWF Architecture – 7 Layer Stack
• IoTWF architectural committee (led by Cisco, • Control flowing from the
IBM, Rockwell Automation, and others) center to the edge

• Decompose the IoT

problem into smaller
parts

• Identify different
technologies at each
layer

• Different parts of a system

can be provided by
different vendors

• Tiered security model

• offers a clean, simplified perspective on IoT enforced at the transition
• includes edge computing, data storage, and access points between levels
• succinct way of visualizing IoT from a technical perspective
• Define interfaces that
leads to interoperability
Layers 1 & 2
Layer 2: Connectivity Layer
Layer 1: Physical Devices and
• focus is on connectivity
Controllers Layer

• home of the “things” in IoT

• “things” can be from a

microscopic sensors to giant
machines in a factory

• primary function is
generating data

• capable of being queried

and/or controlled over a
network.
 Layer 3 : Fog Layer
Basic principle:

Layer 3: Edge Computing Layer information processing is initiated as

early and as close to the edge of the
• often referred to as the “fog” layer network as possible.
• emphasis is on
– Data reduction by filtering and
cleaning up

– Reformatting and compressing data

– Initial processing of data (e.g. alert

generation, data validation, etc)
 Upper Layers: Layers 4–7

Layers Functions
Layer 4: Data Accumulation • Captures data and stores it for applications
• Convert event-based data to query-based processing
Layer 5: Data Abstraction • Reconciles multiple data formats
• Ensures consistent semantics for various data sources
• Confirmation about dataset completeness
Layer 6: Application • Interpret data using software applications
• Applications may monitor, control, and provide report
based on analysing the data
Layer 7: Collaboration and • Consumes and shares the application information
processes • Collaborating and communicating IoT information
 Simplified IoT Architecture
• It highlights the fundamental building blocks that are common to most IoT
systems and which is intended to help in designing an IoT network.

• IoT architectural framework is presented as two parallel stacks

• Core IoT Functional Stack
• IoT Data Management and Compute Stack
Internet

The simplest How Information Travel Through the Internet

definition of A page on the Internet—whether it's full of words, images or
the Internet both—doesn't come to you in one shipment. It's translated
into digital information, chopped into 1500 byte pieces called
is that it's a PACKETS, and sent to you like a puzzle that needs to be
network of reassembled. Each part of the packet has a specific
function:
computer Sequence ID
ID’s where the information
networks Header
Provides the
belongs in relation to the rest
of the information
complete
destination
address for the End of Message
packet ID’s the end of the
packet

Data Block
The portion of the overall information
carried by the packet
Internet

How Information Travel Through the Internet

When you connect to a Web site through an ISP and start exchanging information,
there isn't a fixed connection between your computer and the Web server computer
hosting the Web site. Instead, information is exchanged using the best possible path
at that particular time. Special computers called routers determine these paths,
avoiding slow links and favoring fast ones.

Your Web
Computer ISP Servers
Routers
Network Architecture

Wired Network PC Firewall The Internet

Fiber Optic Network Cable

Router
Switch

Server Other LANS

Wireless Network
Devices at different layers

1. NIC Card
2. Repeater
3. Hub
4. Switch
5. Bridge
6. Router
7. Gateway
8. Firewall
Network Interface Card

 NIC is used to physically

connect host devices to the
network media.
 A NIC is a printed circuit board
that fits into the expansion slot
of a bus on a computer
motherboard.
 It can also be a peripheral
device. NICs are sometimes
called network adapters.
 Each NIC is identified by a
unique code called a Media
Access Control (MAC) address.
 This address is used to control
data communication for the host
on the network.
Repeaters

 A repeater is a network device used to

regenerate a signal.
 Repeaters regenerate analog or digital signals
that are distorted by transmission loss due to
attenuation.
 A repeater does not make an intelligent
decision concerning forwarding packets
Hubs

 Hubs concentrate on connections.

 In other words, they take a group
of hosts and allow the network to
see them as a single unit. This is
done passively, without any other
effect on the data transmission.
 Active hubs concentrate hosts and
also regenerate signals.
Bridges

 Bridges convert network data

formats and perform basic data
transmission management.
 Bridges provide connections
between LANs.
 They also check data to
determine if it should cross the
bridge. This makes each part of
the network more efficient
Switches

 Switches add more intelligence to data transfer management.

 They can determine if data should remain on a LAN and transfer
data only to the connection that needs it.
 Another difference between a bridge and switch is that a switch
does not convert data transmission formats
Routers

 Routers have all the capabilities listed

above.
 Routers can regenerate signals,
concentrate multiple connections,
convert data transmission formats, and
manage data transfers.
 They can also connect to a WAN, which
allows them to connect LANs that are
separated by great distances.
Gateway

 A gateway is a piece of networking

hardware used in
telecommunications for
telecommunications networks that
allows data to flow from one discrete
network to another.
 Gateways are distinct from routers
or switches in that they communicate
using more than one protocol to
connect a bunch of networks
Firewall

 A firewall is a network device or

software for controlling network
security and access rules.
 Firewalls are inserted in connections
between secure internal networks
and potentially insecure external
networks such as the Internet.
 Firewalls are typically configured to
reject access requests from
unrecognized sources while allowing
actions from recognized ones.
 The vital role firewalls play in network
security grows in parallel with the
constant increase in cyber attacks.
Figures and slide materials are taken from the following resource person and books:

1. Dr. Manas Khatua, Assistant Professor, Department of CSE, IIT Guwahati

2. David Hanes et al., “IoT Fundamentals: Networking Technologies, Protocols,

and Use Cases for the Internet of Things”, 1st Edition, 2018, Pearson India.

3. Mayur Ramgir, “Internet of Things: Architecture, Implementation and

Security”,1st Edition, 2020, Pearson India.