International Journal of Software Engineering and Its Applications

Vol. 10, No. 1 (2016), pp. 287-294

http://dx.doi.org/10.14257/ijseia.2016.10.1.28

A Study on Actual Cases & Meanings for Internet of Things

Dong-Woo Lee
Dept. Of Computer Information, Woosong University, 226-2, Jayang-dong,
Dong-gu, Daejon, Korea
dwlee@wsu.ac.kr
Abstract
We commonly call the modern society as Convergence. Especially, mobile, smart,
cloud computing can be called core technologies of the large technological direction of
convergence. Many people have used an internet at various purposes. Internet have been
used the optimal space to share information by information producer or consumer. But,
recently, through the development of networks and devices, the internet is expanding
beyond PCs and mobile devices into enterprise assets such as field equipment, and
consumer items such as cars and televisions. The internet of things will enable forms of
collaboration and communication between people and things, and between things
themselves, hitherto unknown and unimagined. This paper describes various multiple
meanings on internet of things, and describes the electronic and car domain on internet of
things.
Keywords: ICT, Internet of thing, Intelligence, Actual Cases

1. Introduction
The term, "IoT(Internet of Things)," was used for the first time by Kevin Ashton at
MIT Auto-ID center in 1999. In its early stage, IoT used RFID tags, and thereafter, the
concept has changed little by little up to the point of the current ubiquitous computing
environment. By 2020, it is expected that physical world web service also will be
included.
Although many standardization groups such as IEEE, ITU, 3GPP, and IETF have
presented various definitions, in its broadest sense, Internet of the Things means
"technology through which additional values can be provided to users by linking things or
devices to the Internet." Figure 1 shows a basic concept of Internet of the Things. In his
book, Internet of the Things, Daniel Giusto defines this term as a means that
systematically integrates various objects or things around us (RFID tag, sensor, mobile
phone, machinery device, etc.,) to achieve one objective.

ISSN: 1738-9984 IJSEIA

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International Journal of Software Engineering and Its Applications

Vol. 10, No. 1 (2016)

Figure 1. Internet of Things (IoT)

Once things are connected to the Internet, various values become available to users,
and constant online observation, remote control, and management of one's information
through data collection become possible, which will create a variety of services based on
user customization and learning.
As Internet-based functions are added to existing electronic items that were used
independently, various services have become available. The Netherlands, an agricultural
nation in Europe, started to make good use of Internet of the Things: Mil cows' health is
checked up by means of sensors on their ears, and the result is delivered to PCs or smart
phones real time. In this manner, more than 5,000 cows are managed. From agricultural
areas to cutting-edge industry including environmental pollution measurement, forest fire
prevention, traffic measurement, and indoor object locating, etc., this method can be
applied to such a variety of areas, creating added values. Every October, Gartner, a global
research company, announces its top 10 strategic technologies that will greatly affect the
following year. Figure 2 shows the top 10 strategic technology trends for 2015. As shown
in figure 3, Internet of the Things is stated in the list of technologies that will be
influential from 2012 to 2015. Certainly, this will be in limelight continually in the future.

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Figure 2. 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015

Figure 3. 10 Strategic Technology Trends from 2012 to 2015

As of 2013, things as many as 10 to 15 billion are estimated to be connected to the
Internet, and the number will continue to increase. In view of this phenomenon, our
society is becoming a transcendental linking society where every object around us is
connected through a network. As the global population exceeds 7 billion at present, there
must be a larger number of devices than that of humans. Such a countless number of
devices are winged through the Internet and communicate with one another. In the early
stage, of course, human manipulation will be the basis, but later on, such elements as

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Bluetooth, wireless communication, sensor data, and network help communication among
themselves with human intervention gradually reducing.
Terms that have similar meanings with Internet of the things include M2M (Machineto-Machine), WSN(Wireless Sensor Network)/ USN(Ubiquitous Sensor Network),
IoE(Internet of Everything), WoT(Web of Things), etc. Although such various terms are
used, they are conceptually the same in a sense that things are connected to a network by
means of the communication devices on them and information is shared through the
communication network.
Once Internet of the Things is established, it becomes possible to develop and spread
various related technologies such as wireless network, communication module, sensor,
and smart terminal, which will expand the effect of Internet of the Things to almost every
field of industry as well as daily activities. As this technology is introduced in various
areas such as medical science, transportation, manufacturing, and education, existing
processes and services will face innovative changes.
This study comprehensively examines actual cases and various multiple meanings on
Internet of the Things.

2. Various Meanings for Internet of Things

Internet of the Things(IoT) expands the existing concept of the Internet. This nextgeneration paradigm of the Internet embraces even a network between things, between
things and humans, and between things so that various surrounding objects can be
connected through the Internet. As shown in Figure 4 below, IoT consists of the three
basic elements: human, thing, and service. The maximum effect will be gained as the
linkage between elements - human and thing, things, thing and service, and services - is
smooth and streamlined.

Figure 4. IoT Organization (3 Factors)

Currently, however, there are various definitions of the future Internet when it comes to
the paradigm of IoT among colleges, research centers, and standardization agencies.
The definitions of IoT may be classified to those objects-centered, Internet-centered,
and semantics-centered[1]. Auto-ID Labs, a research group of GS1/EPC global, an RFID
global standardization agency, defined IoT, for the first time centering on things with
EPC(Electronic Product Code) that is a unique indicator. With RFID tags with EPC
attached on things, the codes are read by means of RFID readers installed around the
world, and the information is stored in the distribution system, part of IoT infrastructure,

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so that object recognition and global locating/tracking can be possible. The information of
things registered as members of IoT are monitored and managed real time, and various
IoT services are provided through a standardized interface. The recent version of
GS1/EPC global supports sensors and actuators in addition to the simple identification
function, which contributes to standardization and establishment of IoT infrastructure
based on EPC, the unique identifier.
Second, Definitions such as ITU(International Telecommunication Union) focus on
networking of various objects anytime, anywhere, and for anybody[2][5]. EC(European
Commission) as well tries to go beyond the area of RFID-centered, objects-oriented
researches and define IoT as a world of autonomous communication among things where
a number of objects including mobile Internet, RFID, and sensor networks, are connected
to one another. IPSO[3] defines IoT, centering on the function of the Internet of things
based on IP(Internet Protocol), which has already been verified in the existing Internet
system.
Lastly, Semantics-centered definitions of IoT view IoT as a means to express, store,
search for, and systemize data sets produced by a large number of things to be contained
in IoT[4].
As such, IoT may be defined in different perspectives, and it is impossible to specify
every vision of future IoT. To develop a genuine paradigm, therefore, it is necessary to
integrate the vision of IoT. By so doing, IoT will become a global network, or an
expanded future Internet, where countless things are identifiable and their information can
be stored and shared systematically between things, or things and humans.

3. Application Domain for Internet of the Things

This section examines actual utilizations of Internet of the things in Smart Home and
automobile industries where IoT is attracting keen interests for the area of electronic
devices.
3.1. Smart Home
2014 CES, the largest home appliance exposition in the U.S., exhibited many Smart
Home products for remote information check and manipulation of home appliances by
connecting mobile devices and home appliances. The major technology trends among
these home electronic appliances include Internet of the Things, that is, information
exchange and communication among electronic devices in a wireless network via the
Internet.
Whirlpool exhibited Connected Suite,' which connects cook room electronic
appliances such as washing machine, drying machine, refrigerator, oven, and dish washer
for them to communicate with mobile devices. For instance, A user may operate an even
by using a smart phone or transmits laundry information to a washing machine so that it
can set up the proper temperature and washing mode accordingly. A drying machine too
may be remotely operated by using a smart phone.
A refrigerator may send information of food in it, and a laundry machine or a drying
machine may inform the user of work completion. Whirlpool demonstrated Smart Kitchen
too, including an electric range with an interactive touch screen. The electric range
presents information of raw materials in the kitchen and kinds of foods and recipes
available with these materials. Wherever on the electric range you may put a pot or a
frypan, a switch is displayed conveniently for operation. If more stirring or water is
necessary for the contents, an alarm is displayed on the screen. Besides, updates of
Twitter or Face Book, telephone messages, weather information, and calendar may be
displayed on the surface as well as a touch screen through which you can play music or
adjust the volume. The entire surface of this product includes is a sort of touch screen
through which the electric range's computer displays necessary information.

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LG exhibited the Home Chat function as shown in Figure 5. This adopts a line
application through which mobile devices such as Smart phone can chat with various
home electronic appliances. A user can check information of each kitchen device and
control each device through chatting. For example, he may operate various products such
as laundry machine, drying machine, dish washer, and air conditioner, and receives
updates of each product's status. This type of Home Chat function has been embodied not
only in home appliances but also in other products such as cleaning machine and
computer, and when these items are notified of user absence, they are turned to a power
saving mode to conserve electricity.

Figure. 5. LG Home Chat

In addition to that, various other devices that provide information in connection with
mobile devices and work remotely were exhibited. WeMo Smart LED bulbs exhibited by
Belkin are operated by means of mobile devices. Kolibree Internet-based automatic
toothbrush provides information of how often and how long the user brushes teeth by
means of a mobile device.
Goji Smart Lock to be released this year is a smart electronic door lock that notifies
who is standing in front of the door. A list of visitors is provided through a mobile
application, and remote door opening/closing is also possible.
Electronic appliances with networking functions accounted for 33% of the entire
information-based electronic appliance market, and it is expected that the ratio will
increase to the half by 2016. Recently, smart white home appliances such as refrigerator
and oven with networking functions emerged and became a major target of Internet of the
Things. Smart Home where such smart home appliances are concentrated draws attention
as a major target for service of IoT.
3.2. Automobiles
In 2014, CES Exhibition hosts 9 global car manufacturers such as BMW, Audi,
Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Ford, Mazda Motor Corporation, and Kia, the largest number of
participants in CES show history. A variety of IT elements were embodied for automotive
platforms. A technology trend in automobile industry this year is, convergence of
automobile industry and IT with the boundary blurred.
In particular, infotainment, various mobile devices connected to cars, unmanned car
(Self-Driving) technology was some of the major features. "Infotainment" is a
combination of information and entertainment. Information means information that a
driver needs while driving (driver assistance), which includes vehicle states such as
timing of refueling and tire pressure, navigation, speed limit, weather, road condition, and

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region where the car is running. As for entertainment, a driver can social network
applications such as Facebook, Twitter, etc., Internet radio applications such as Pandora,
New Feed, etc. in the car while driving.
Car manufacturers demonstrated Infotainment technology applied to their own car
models. Drivers could search for desired information readily while driving and
conveniently use various applications. These companies digitalized automotive
dashboards and arranged convenient control devices such as touch screen so that drivers
can easily use Infotainment technology. For instance, Audi was equipped with a digital
monitor beside the dashboard through which various applications available were indicated.
BMW provided various types of information through the projector above the dashboard.

Figure 6. Infotainment Display of Audi

In CES this year, Infotainment technology was demonstrated by many companies
through a variety of mobile devices connected to vehicles. Users could check vehicle
information and control certain functions by means of a mobile device. Mercedes-Benz
demonstrated applications such as navigation system and Pebble Smart Watch through
which the driver could open or close the doors. Car-to-X,' a combination with this Smart
Watch, notifies the driver of any emergency situation around him, parking locations, fuel,
etc.
Door to door navigation,' which a navigation system that utilizes Google Glass,
maintains the information even if passengers get off the car on the way. For example, with
Google Glass linked to the vehicle, when a certain address is entered into the vehicle
navigation system, even if the passengers get out of the car on the way the navigation
function continues through the Smart Glass until they finally arrive at the destination.
When they get back in the car with the navigation system on in Google Glass, the
direction of the destination is indicated.

4. Conclusions
As information and communication technology advanced rapidly, various devices have
emerged lately. We have shared various types of information created by humans in the

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virtual space called the Internet. Recently, however, the interest is moving toward Internet
of the things where information from various devices can be shared between humans and
things. Accordingly, this study introduces various perspectives on Internet of the things
and investigates Smart Home whose main domain is Internet of the things, home
appliance industry, and future automobile industry. The areas where IoT is available keep
expanding and the contents also will be more and more specific.
As Smart phones did, Internet of the things will become part of our lives in the near
future. The time that humans will communicate not only among themselves but also with
things is drawing near, and then people will have to care more about security since
acquiring information of things will be more essential.

References
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no. 15, (2010), pp. 2787-2805.
[2] ITU. http;//www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/techwatch/Pages/internetofthings.aspx.
[3] IPSO. http://ipso-alliance.org/about.
[4] I. Toma, E. Simper and G. Hench, A Joint Roadmap for semantic Technologies and the Internet of
Things, Proceeding of the 3th STI Roadmapping Workshop, Greece, (2009).
[5] ITU. Overview of the Internet of Things, (2012).
[6] IDC. The Internet of Things is Poised to Change Everything, (2013).
[7] C. H. Cho, B. Y. Yem and H. W. Lee, Policy, Service, Technology. NIPA, (2013).
[8] L. Coezee and J. Eksteen, The Internet of Things Promise for the Future? An Introduction, IIMC
International Information Management Corporation (IST-Africa 2011 Conference Proceeding), (2011),
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[9] J. Gubbia, R. Buyyab, S. Marusic and M. Palaniswami, Internet of Things (IoT): A vision, architectural
elements, and future directions, Future Generation Computer Systems, (2013), pp. 1645-1660.

Author
Dong-Woo Lee, he received his BS in electronic engineering,
MS in computer engineering, and PhD in computer science from
Korea University, Korea. He joined the department of computer
information science, Woosong University, Korea at 1995. He is
currently a professor. His research interests include distributed
processing and systems, database, and reactive systems.

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