My point of view in the course "Networking in IoT"

The term “Internet of Things” is getting more popular on each day and it is expected that by next year number of IoT connected devices will be reached to 30 billions whereas in 2025 this number will be increased to 75 billions[1]. Change is very big in spite of only a few years and I do not have even a little doubt about this information. Yes, you can ask me why I am so sure. OK, let me tell a bit about my experience on IoT.

The first time I knew about smart things and devices, which are, connected each other through network in my third year of university courses. During the course called “Embedded systems”, I made simple devices and since then it became my hobby. Yes, I like to make my own DIY (Do It Yourself) projects. It is good if your work is your hobby. That was the first thing when I decided to write my diploma project in this field. Until today, I had online and offline courses related to the Internet of Things. After reading the book of Maciej Kranz called “Building The Internet of Things. New Technological Revolution”, I really believe IoT is the future of new technologies, which are making life more comfortable, smart and secure. All things I have been doing is to be part of this revolution and represent our country on the peak of this area. That is why I chose this course and trying to learn new things searching for new projects, technologies, and reading and analyzing researches from around the world. I am still new in this field and just hobbyist.

The Internet of Things (also called Internet of Everything) is making new revolution in the smart technology area where all things (actuators, devices) are connected each other through the network. Although IoT is accepted as the foundation of technological revolution called Industry 4.0. Data gathered by embedded sensors and actuators is used in applications of IoT technologies that make very big changes in all area including business organization, educational process, and industry after implementation. The applications can decrease the number of employees and money spent on different fields. Automation systems are developed in manufacture using IoT technologies that can be controlled remotely which are more secure and save more time for production. However, implementation of IoT in industry and business is still problem. The reason is the lack of IoT engineers and programmers. For this purpose many courses at university and online are being taught in these days. Cisco, an American multinational technology conglomerate that is proven partner for success in IoT, also started teaching courses in this field.

“Networking in IoT”, created by Cisco Academy, is the course which I am learning this semester. During the course, we began learning from the fundamental things of IoT and networking. Networking is one of the main things while creating IoT application and device. The collected data is sent over a network using Bluetooth, local area network, wide area network, GSM (Groupe Special Mobile), gateways, wireless, etc. IoT devices are detected using their IP (Internet Protocol) or MAC (Media Access Control) addresses. For this reason we learned calculating IPv4 and IPv6 address, and setting up the devices in the network for connection through each other. In this case we used Packet Tracer (network simulation tool) for simulating calculated IP addresses and connect the devices. Packet Tracer is a multifunctional modeling program created by Cisco academy for simulating network connection. As far as I know, Packet Tracer was created for only networking topology at first. When the Internet of things became popular and Cisco started working with it, into the simulation were added new functions for programming IoT devices and connections. One of the main usefulness of this tool is creating your IoT network in both logical and physical topologies that gives the user to think and imagine more widely. Embedded sensors, actuators and microcontrollers can be designed and programmed using this tool. These are the basic “things” of IoT. Because all data from physical world are gathered by them (sensors and actuators). The course gives wide information about gathering data, storing them and calculation. This data is used when making decisions in application and doing statistical research. The data can be calculated in both fog computing and cloud computing which are also discussed during the course. In fog computing data, storage and computation is located somewhere between the data source and cloud, whereas in cloud computing all of above are located in the cloud for real time use. When programming device using data gathered (or already stored in either fog or cloud), it must work for it purpose of use. In this kind of situation, two types of control systems are programmed while calculating data: open loop and closed loop. Open loop control systems acts on input data, and output does not effect on the control action. Closed loop makes decision while controlling the data and outputs according to the desired condition. This is the way how IoT applications work. When designing working process of the device (or application) flowchart for programming code of control system is also needed for introducing the project for clients in business model. Programming is also needed in the microcontroller or microprocessor of the device to make connection with actuators and embedded sensors. For this reason programming in Arduino Uno and Raspberry Pi, which are very popular micros, are taught during the course. Linux operating system, python and blocky programming languages are discussed and practiced. Lab works were done for every topic, and explained very carefully.

Concluding my point of view in the course, I must mention that I am only in a half way of the course. Therefore, I should learn many things. The most things I learned before the course. However, interactive learning with course instructor, Azamat Zhamanov, helped me to expand my horizon in IoT world.

[1]https://www.statista.com/statistics/471264/iot-number-of-connected-devices-worldwide/

[2] https://www.aberdeen.com/opspro-essentials/industry-4-0-industrial-iot-manufacturing-sneak-peek/