IoT systems consist of four main components:
1. Sensors
Sensors collect data from their surroundings. This data could be a simple temperature reading, GPS, accelerometer, or even a complex one like a live video feature on a social media platform. Thus, sensors are the devices that sense the environment and perform multiple tasks. Multiple sensors can be part of a device that does more than just sense things, like a smartphone.
2. Connectivity
The data collected by sensors is sent to the cloud through different ways like Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular, satellite, Ethernet, low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN), etc. Now the devices can interact freely with each other in a transparent manner. These connectivity options differ from each other in terms of range, bandwidth, and power consumption. Different IoT applications use different connectivity options depending on their needs.
3. Data Processing
After the data is gathered by the sensors and gets to the cloud, the software starts processing the collected information and data to perform the required tasks. The tasks could be as simple as checking if the temperature reading is within the acceptable range. It could be as complex as using the computer vision on the video to identify objects
This phase includes different techniques like classification, calculations, and sorting to get meaningful information from the data received. Data processing software enhances the automation in IoT devices.
4. User Interface
User Interface is the means by which a user and an IoT device interact. This phase involves making the information useful to the end-user. It can be done by sending an alert to the user via text, notification, or email.
