Internet of things: The next big thing.

First A. Gaurav Sharma Second B. Kunal kishore

Department of electrical engineering, Indian institute of technology (BHU),
Varanasi.
Abstract-The Internet of Things (IoT) is
expected to grow to 50 billion connected
devices by 2020 providing valuable
information to consumers, manufacturers and
utility providers .Through the IoT,
consumers, manufacturers and utility
providers will uncover new ways to manage
devices and ultimately conserve resources and
save money by using smart meters, home
gateways, smart plugs and connected
appliances. It can be used to innovate the
lifestyle to a different level by connecting
things within the existing infrastructure. It can
be used in improvising healthcare facilities,
building smart homes, smart academic
campuses,
and
smart
power
grid
infrastructure.
This paper discusses on the various ideas that
uses IoT which can be used to revolutionize
our daily lifestyle, thus making us from human
to a smart human .It also covers how RFID
tags can be used in IoT for connecting things.

1. INTRODUCTION
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the
interconnection of
uniquely identifiable
embedded computing devices within the existing
Internet infrastructure. Typically, IoT is expected
to offer advanced connectivity of devices,
systems, and services that goes beyond machineto-machine communications (M2M) and covers a
variety of protocols, domains, and applications.
The interconnection of these embedded devices
(including smart objects), is expected to usher in
automation in nearly all fields.
Things, in the IoT, can refer to a wide variety of
devices such as heart monitoring implants,
biochip transponders on farm animals,
automobiles with built-in sensors, or field
operation devices that assist fire-fighters in
search and rescue. Current market examples
include smart thermostat systems and

washer/dryers that utilize Wi-Fi for remote

monitoring.
With this concept paper we want to show a
method how to apply IoT for various
technological advancements which are yet to be
harnessed. This employs the use of two-way endto-end communication with passive RFID tags
via the Internet and smart objects.

2. IMPLEMENTING IoT
From a technology perspective, the IoT is being
defined as smart machines interacting and
communicating with other machines, objects,
environments and infrastructures, resulting in
volumes of data generated and processing of that
data into useful actions that can command and
control things and make life much easier for
human beings.
A. MAKING THINGS SMART

Today, we are seeing the electrification of the

world around us. Almost any manufactured good
now includes an embedded processor (typically a

Figure 1

Microcontroller, or MCU), along with user

interfaces, that can add programmability and
deterministic
command
and
control
functionality. The electrification of the world and
the pervasiveness of embedded processing are the
keys to making objects smart.
Smart components comprise the sensors,
microprocessors, data storage, controls, software,
and, typically, an embedded operating system and
enhanced user interface.
After a device becomes smart through the
integration of embedded processing, the next
logical step is remote communication with the
smart device to help make life easier.
Communication capability and remote manual
control lead to the next step. Automation of things
based on my settings and with sophisticated
cloud-based processing is the ultimate goal of
some IoT applications. And, for those
applications to connect with and leverage the
Internet to achieve this goal, they must first
become smart (incorporate an MCU/embedded
processor with an associated unique ID) then
connected and, finally, controlled. Those
capabilities can then enable a new class of
services that makes life easier for their users. For
the
network,
sophisticated
cloud-based
processing requires a new generation of
Communications processors that can keep track
of all of those connected devices, communicate
with them and translate their functionality into
useful services all with nonlinear improvement to
their performance and efficiency.

even the computational power of such passive

RFID tags increases rapidly. Modern tags are able
to store and compute data, or even hold sensors.
In order to draw advantage from this increased
functionality, the integration into the IoT is
essential. Powerful application scenarios can be
developed when two way communication with
tags can be established via the network.
A two-way communication between an RFID tag
an a Corresponding Node in a network is to be
established for the purpose. Two-way
communication means, that the tag can contact a
Corresponding Node in the network at any time
it is connected to the Internet and vice versa. We
think of application scenarios where a
Corresponding Node wants to change the tag
status (e.g. revocation, call-back), write data on
the tag (e.g. guarantee, maintenance), or poll the
recent tag status (e.g. sensor data).
Our system consists of four communicating
parties : the tag manager, the RFID readers, the
tagged items, and so-called Corresponding
Nodes. The tag manager issues the tags, i.e.
personalization information is assigned to the tag,
stores and manages information about the tags in
a database. The intention of the Corresponding
Node is to communicate with the tags to get
information from it or to change information
stored on the tag. In Figure 2 the communication
processes between the parties are shown.

B. INTEGRATION OF RFID IN IoT

As things getting smarter and are able to connect
themselves with each other. One important point
towards interoperability is to enable things to talk
the same language to be able to interact with
each other. As the language of the Internet is
the Internet Protocol (IP), Integration with the
Internet implies that devices will utilize an IP
address as a unique identifier. However, due to
the limited address space of IPv4 (which allows
for 4.3 billion unique addresses), objects in the
IoT will have to use IPv6 to accommodate the
extremely large address space required.
The communication using IPv6 is especially a
Challenge for passive RFID tags that are
equipped with limited resources only. However,

Figure 2
Tag Manager, RFID readers and Corresponding
Nodes are connected to the Internet. The tagged
Items are mobile and are expected to move
through different reader fields and connect to
the readers via their standard RFID
communication protocol.
The basic principle of this method is: The Corre-

sponding Node sends a message with the IP

address of the tag. The message is delivered to the
reader, where the tag is currently present. The
RFID reader identifies the tag with the
corresponding destination IP address and
translates the message into RFID commands,
which are sent to the tag. The answers of the tag
are re-translated into IPv6 messages which are
sent back to the corresponding node. Mobile IPv6
(MIPv6)
provides
the
routing
and
Communication mechanisms for mobile nodes in
the Internet and we want to use this concept for
our so called MIPv6-enabled tags. As shown in
the figure, the passive tags are not able to do IPv6
on their own, but the readers do the work for
them.
In our concept, the RFID tags do not implement
MIPv6 protocol by themselves but use the
readers as a translator to the IPv6 network.
Each tag holds a unique IP address and belongs
to a tag manager.
According to the MIPv6 terminology, we call this
tag manager Home Agent.
The complexity of this system is shifted to the
Reader. The reader has to provide IPv6 router
functionality and translation of the commands. It
also controls the communication flow between
the Cor- responding Node and the tag. We assume
that a reader has enough hardware resources
available to handle these new requirements.
RFID tags only need extra memory to store the IP
address (128 bits) and two additional custom
commands (e.g.getIP and changeIP).
3. IoT AND SMART PRODUCTS
Intelligence and connectivity enable an entirely
new set of product functions and capabilities,
which can be grouped into four areas:
monitoring, control, optimization, and
autonomy.
A. MONITORING

Smart, connected products enable the

comprehensive monitoring of a products
condition,
operation,
and
external
environment through sensors and external data
sources. Using data, a product can alert users
or others to changes in circumstances or
performance.
Monitoring
also allows
companies and customers to track a products

operating characteristics and history and to

better understand how the product is actually
used. This data has important implications for
design (by reducing over engineering, for
example), market segmentation (through the
analysis of usage patterns by customer type),
and after-sale service (by allowing the dispatch
of the right technician with the right part, thus
improving the first-time fix rate). Monitoring
data may also reveal warranty compliance
issues as well as new sales opportunities, such
as the need for additional product capacity
because of high utilization.
B. CONTROL
Smart, connected products can be controlled
through remote commands or algorithms that are
built into the device or reside in the product
cloud. Algorithms are rules that direct the product
to respond to specified changes in its condition or
environment (for example, if pressure gets too
high, shut off the valve or when traffic in a
parking garage reaches a certain level, turn the
overhead lighting on or off).Control through
software embedded in the product or the cloud
allows the customization of product performance
to a degree that previously was not cost effective
or often even possible. The same technology also
enables users to control and personalize their
interaction with the product in many new ways.
C. OPTIMIZATION

The rich flow of monitoring data from smart,

connected products, coupled with the capacity
to control product operation, allows
companies to optimize product performance in
numerous ways, many of which have not been
previously possible. Smart, connected products
can apply algorithms and analytics to in-use or
historical data to dramatically improve output,
utilization, and efficiency. In wind turbines, for
instance, a local microcontroller can adjust
each blade on every revolution to capture
maximum wind energy. And each turbine can
be adjusted to not only improve its
performance but minimize its impact on the
efficiency of those nearby.
D. AUTONOMY
Monitoring,
control,
and
optimization
capabilities combine to allow smart, connected
products to achieve a previously unattainable

level of autonomy. Autonomous products can

also act in coordination with other products and
systems. The value of these capabilities can grow
exponentially as more and more products become
connected. For example, the energy efficiency of
the electric grid increases as more smart meters
are connected, allowing the utility to gain insight
into and respond to demand patterns over time.
4. APPLICATIONS OF IoT
When devices can sense and communicate via the
Internet, they can go beyond local embedded
processing to access and take advantage of
remote super-computing nodes. This allows a
device to run more sophisticated analyses, make
complex decisions and respond to local needs
quickly, often with no human intervention
required.
A. BUILDING SMART GRID
In the simplest terms, building a smart grid means
securing the future of energy supply for everyone
in a rapidly growing population with a limited
power production capacity. A smart grid reduces
the losses, increases efficiency, optimizes the
energy demand distribution and also makes largescale renewable energy such as solar and wind
deployments a reality. With an aging
infrastructure, the grid is facing severe challenges
including recurring black-outs in major
industrialized cities around the globe, more than
30 percent electrical energy lost from production
to homes in countries like India.
There is a need to track real time energy
consumption and demand to the energy supply:
this goes with the deployment of more remote
sensing equipment capable of measuring,
monitoring and communicating energy data that
can be used to implement a self-healing grid,
increase the overall efficiency, and increase the
level of self-monitoring and decision making.
The connected smart grid provides a
communication network that will connect all the
different energy-related equipment of the future.
The most important concept in the delivery of
electricity is peak demand. For example, when it
is really hot outside, everyone runs their air
conditioner. They also go to the refrigerator to
grab a drink and then wash those dishes. Since
its so hot outside, they may as well get
something done inside, so why not throw a load

of laundry in the washing machine and turn on the

TV? All of this spikes the demand challenging
utilities to keep up (and sometimes they cant
keep up). Even when they meet peak demand, it
is at a great cost. Entire power plants are built to
handle peak capacity. In fact, one approach that
has been used for years is to build pumped
storage plants. Thats utility parlance for a plant
that pumps water up so they can run water down
to spin a turbine that generates electricity. The
laws of physics would suggest it takes more
energy to pump the water up than it generates on
the way down. So why do it? They pump the
water up during off peak hours, where there is
excess electricity on the grid, and they run the
turbines during peak load conditions to meet this
excess demand.
A smart grid has the net effect of offering
consumers the ability to participate in the
solution. In essence, we all become the pumped
storage plant by agreeing to control mechanisms
that run our dishwashers and laundry when the
system demand is less, ostensibly in the middle of
the night. It may also employ techniques to run
the air conditioner at slightly reduced levels with
resulting savings in both consumption and cost.
These approaches holistically reach to a very
granular level to balance resources that
previously have only been possible through
central control with far less precision.
The first key step towards a smart grid that makes
the IoT real is the mass deployment of smart
meters. A smart meter functions as an energy
measuring device which consist of a two-way
communication system.
Modern e-meters must meet certain criteria to
play such a critical role in the smart grid rollout.
First, meters need to report energy consumption
information from houses and buildings back to
the utilities. Depending of the country and the
nature of the grid a wireless or over wire
communication can be used. However there is no
one connectivity solution that fits all
deployments. Making the IoT real requires a
larger portfolio that can go from wired to wireless
and sometimes combined together. Second, the
meter needs to deliver useful power consumption
information into the home through an in home
display or a gateway. This information allows
consumers to adapt energy behavior and lower
utility bills.

The second step is the automation of the grid

infrastructure to connect power transmission and
distribution by building out the communication
network between power substations. From
production to consumption, the substation is they
key piece of grid equipment that establishes the
link between utilities and homes and building
premises. A substation transforms voltage, drives
the flow of power, isolates and reroutes the power
path as needed, manages and coordinates
distributed energy source from solar to wind and
deals with power outages and recovery. The
ability to dynamically locate, map, monitor and
control the substation at the city-, state-, or
country level is one of the key goals of an
automated distribution to ensure better grid
operation. Here again, using connected
substations to build a network of power-related
information is the answer. First, substation
systems are evolving, moving from multi-copper
and wire proprietary buses to Ethernet-based
communication .This communication function is
enabled by intelligent equipment devices (IEDs)
installed inside the substations, as a part of new
installations or retrofitting existing equipment.
Second, similar to the meters, there is a need for
interoperability across equipment vendors inside
substations and with the collected data to enable
volume deployment. The IEC 61850 industry
standard implemented in the IED resolves this
challenge. With IEC 61850, equipment in
substations like breakers, transformers, and
generators create a time-sensitive network,
collecting all the substation information in a
centralized operation center, which also
establishes a two-way communication. With
connected smart meters and substations we are
moving to a fully connected grid.

Figure 3

Connecting devices together in building and

homes is one of the next steps to reach the full
benefits of the smart grid.
B. ADVANCED HEALTHCARE
SYSTEM

Figure 4
IoT devices can be used to enable remote health
monitoring and emergency notification systems.
These health monitoring devices can range from
blood pressure and heart rate monitors to
advanced devices capable of monitoring
specialized implants, such as pacemakers or
advanced hearing aids. Specialized sensors can
also be equipped within living spaces to monitor
the health and general well-being of senior
citizens, while also ensuring that proper treatment
is being administered and assisting people regain
lost mobility via therapy as well. Other consumer
devices to encourage healthy living, such as,
connected scales or wearable heart monitors, are
also a possibility with the IoT. With IoT,
healthcare providers can reduce operational costs
through predictive maintenance and real-time
asset monitoring, and harness the full power of
data across the entire continuum of care with
analytics that generate valuable insights. With
faster, better insights, providers can improve
patient care, chronic disease management,
hospital administration and supply chain
efficiencies, and provide medical services to
more people at reduced costs.
C. INTELLIGENT
TRANSPORT
SYSTEM

The IoT can assist in integration of

communications, control, and information
processing across various transportation systems.
Application of the IoT extends to all aspects of
transportation systems, i.e. the vehicle, the
infrastructure, and the driver or user. Dynamic
interaction between these components of a
transport system enables inter and intra vehicular
communication, smart traffic control, smart
parking, electronic toll collection systems,
logistic and fleet management, vehicle control,
and safety and road assistance.
D. BUILDING & HOME AUTOMATION
In most homes today, its a manual process to turn
on and off certain lights, set temperature zones
and turn on and off a washing machine. With IoT,
doors, windows, electrical outlets, appliances and
many other types of standalone equipment will
become smart with a unique ID. Those smart
devices can then be connected via wired or
wireless communication, allowing a user to
monitor his or her house remotely, change
settings on a refrigerator or washing machine and
control household tasks through a laptop or
mobile phone from anywhere in the world. With
IoT, a user would be able to use Google Earth to track

electronics than it did just five years ago. The cars

of the future will indeed be able to drive
themselves. Similar changes are also happening
in other aspects of our lives in factories,
transportation, school systems, stadiums and
other public venues. Embedded processing is
everywhere. Connecting those smart devices
(nodes) to the web has also started happening,
although at a slower rate. The pieces of the
technology puzzle are coming together to
accommodate the Internet of Things sooner than
most people expect. Just as the Internet
phenomenon happened not so long ago and
caught like a wildfire, the Internet of Things will
touch every aspect of our lives in less than a
decade.

anything with an RFID tag. Alternatively, our

refrigerator could keep track of our smart-tagged
groceries and tell our cell phone app we are low on a
certain item. If our bag of frozen vegetables can have
a smart tag, other objects such as valuable cars,
jewelry and handbags could too, and they could be
tracked via the Internet and also take advantage of a
variety of available web-based applications.

REFRENCES

5. CONCLUSION
The pervasiveness of embedded processing is
already happening everywhere around us. At
home, appliances as mundane as our basic toaster
now come with an embedded MCU that not only
sets the darkness of the piece of toast to our
preference, but also adds functional safety to the
device. Our refrigerator has started talking to you
and keeping track of what you put in it. There are
energy-aware HVAC systems that can now
generate a report on the activity in your house and
recommend ways to reduce our energy
consumption. The electrification of vehicles has
already started happening, and in just a few years
from now, each car will contain >50 percent more

TERMINOLOGY
IPv6:Internet protocol version 6
IEC 61850: A standard for the design of electric
substation. Part of International electrotechnical
commission.

[1]. Connecting Passive RFID Tags to the

Internet of Things. Sandra Dominikus and JornMarc Schmidt IAIK, Graz University of
Technology
[2].S. Dominikus, M. J. Aigner, and S.
Kraxberger. Passive RFID Technology for the
Internet of Things. In Workshop on RFID / USN
Secu- rity and Cryptography, 2010.
[3].M. Feldhofer, J. Wolkerstorfer, and V.
Rijmen. AES Implementation on a Grain of
Sand. IEE Proceedings on Information Security,
2005.
[4]. Hersent, Olivier, David Boswarthick and
Omar El- loumi. The Internet of Things: Key
Applications and Protocols. Chichester, West
Sussex: Wiley, 2012.
[5 Cisco IBSG. (2011, April). The Internet of
Things. Retrieved from
http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/
docs/innov/IoT_IBSG_0411FINAL.pdf