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7 IoT tips for home users

Posted by: admin Posted on: July 9, 2020

Image Source: Adobe Stock: denisismagilov

Change Default Passwords

According to Brad Ree, CTO of the ioXt Alliance, too many IoT devices have universal, simple passwords, so you should change default passwords and make sure not to reuse passwords. Take advantage of new authentication options, such as Google Authenticator and biometrics, including fingerprint or facial recognition, he adds.

Indeed, default passwords are a major problem across industries because manufacturers share them across product lines and product groups, says Jeremy Boone, technical director at NCC Group. Be aware that more states will pass laws banning default passwords as did California and Oregon. For example, under the California law, single, hard-coded passwords are not allowed, and every IoT device must either have a unique password or require the user to generate a new password before using a device for the first time.

Think with your head

Erez Yalon, director of security research at Checkmarx, points to using some common sense. Think about the kinds of devices you bring into your home and the connectivity they require, he advises. For example, does your baby really need a baby pacifier with an IP address?

Also, just about anything you bring into your home today has a camera and microphone, so start by being aware of the capabilities the unit has and keep it away from your workspace. In addition, turn off IoT devices or put a piece of tape over the camera or microphone when not in use.

Inventory your assets

Consider borrowingg a page from enterprise security pros by creating an inventory of your devices, says Daniel dos Santos, research manager at Forescout Technologies. Even though there’s a lot of focus on the smaller IoT devices, such as babycams and monitors, threat actors are more focused on laptops and smartphones.

“That’s where people store their sensitive data, like their bank accounts and credit cards,” dos Santos says. “And those devices are susceptible to being encrypted by ransomware.”

Segment the home network

With so many devices coming into the home, think about creating a subnet — a segmented piece of a larger network — for your IoT devices, the ioXt Alliance’s Ree says. Most home routers let you run two wireless network names, known as SSIDs, so especially if you’re working from home, you can run one SSID for your work devices and a second one for your home devices and appliances with IP addresses.

Checkmarx’s Yalon echoes Ree about thinking in terms of segmenting devices as they come into the home. For example, when you bring a new device into the house, one of the first questions to ask is which network segment it should reside on.

Buy products from companies that care about IoT security

IoT devices are small devices that often cost $10 or $20 — $100, tops — so margins are thin. That’s why so many IoT manufacturers don’t build security into their devices. On smaller-ticket items, there may not be much of a choice, but for some of the more prominent IoT devices, Checkmarx’s Yalon advises to take take note of how the different companies respond once security researchers point out vulnerabilities in their products.

On two different occasions, once with an Amazon Alexa and also with Google-Samsung on an Android camera, Checkmark found some flaws, and both times the giant tech companies took responsibility and responded within a few weeks with security patches, Yalon notes. Google surprised Checkmark by first releasing a “quick-and-dirty” fix almost immediately to make sure its users were safe, even at the expense of temporarily deactivating a specific feature. Once that was out the door, Google started working on a long-term fix. Amazon, too, was very collaborative and transparent during the entire disclosure and remediating process, Yalon says, not only mitigating the specific attack vector, but learning what the company did, thinking ahead, and placing safety measurements for other attack scenarios.

Look for different features in products that make it easier to reset the device, NCC’s Boone adds. “Take the time to see if there are any added security features and what the security posture of the company is before bringing something into your home,” he says. “At least for now, people should buy from first-line suppliers and known manufacturers.”

Patch and update frequently

Make patching and updating software on your IoT devices a regular part of your routine, Forescout’s dos Santos says. Also, ensure the latest version of the firmware is loaded on the device before using it, as well as turn off Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) on IoT devices and enable https so all web browsing activities are encrypted.

The ioXt’s Ree advises checking to see whether the security has been enabled on your printers or home security cameras. Typically, manufacturers don’t lock down items such as these, so the bad guys can enter your network by sneaking through your peripherals and IoT devices. You can check by entering the IP address of your browser on the command line, and the interface for the product should come up. In many instances, it takes three or four steps to arrive at the passwords link — and that’s if you get past other obstacles because the browser may not tell you to click “Advanced” on the settings.

“There really needs to be an easy way for consumers to get on the settings and in one or two clicks set the password for the printer,” he says. “Most consumers wouldn’t even think to check their printers and set the password.”

Look for 5G SIMs

So much has been written about 5G technology, though much of it is still hype. However, later this year and into the first part of 2021, start looking for 5G SIMs in standard IoT devices, says Jimmy Jones, telecom business development lead at Positive Technologies. You will benefit by getting the same kind of authorization, authentication, and encryption that you get on your smartphones and on most standard IoT devices.

Source: https://www.darkreading.com/

How to Choose a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for Your Consumer IoT Product

Posted by: admin Posted on: July 8, 2020

There are a lot of development boards and SoCs available on the market these days. Choosing the right one for your use case can be difficult. We know this because, well, we love working with IoT devices. Although we don’t build hardware at Yonomi, we see first hand how much variability exists in the hardware spaces. That variability can make a big impact on your IoT project.

In this article, we discuss design challenges, cost and delivery for producing devices at scale across three development approaches for prototyping your IoT use case.

Linux-Cased Dev Boards (Raspberry PI/Intel Edison/Pine 64)

We will use the example of a Raspberry PI to cover the wide range of available Linux dev boards.

Raspberry PI is a highly versatile development board. It has many I/O (In and Out) ports, as well as different versions of the board that fit various use cases. At the core of a Raspberry PI is an ARM processor. It can run many different Linux distributions out of the box and has enough RAM (Random Access Memory) to run the most RAM-hungry processes with ease.

Running a Linux OS gives developers the freedom to quickly write firmware code in many different languages.

There are a few things, however, that tip the scale. Writing the firmware can be easy, but managing firmware updates for devices in the field at scale utilizing OTA (Over the Air updates) isn’t straightforward. There aren’t a lot of supplemental libraries or services available to help with OTA implementation, which takes additional development time and adds cost. If a third-party service is used, it will also incur its own cost to manage the OTA updates for your devices.

Raspberry Pi isn’t an ideal board with which to produce an IoT product at scale. The cost of the hardware is generally higher and includes the need for supplementary functionality on the board to package everything into a user-friendly product. Using a Raspberry Pi may also lead to licensing issues when it comes to deploying them in production.

Overall, Raspberry Pi is a great product for rapid prototyping and testing your use cases. However, it requires additional time, cost and effort to turn it into a production-ready device.

ThinCloud supports an SDK for node.js and has a guide that can be followed to prototype your IoT use-case using a Raspberry Pi.

IoT WiFi SoC (ESP8266/ESP32/Marvell-MW320/Arduino-MKR1000)

We will use the example of Espressif ESP8266 to cover the wide range of available System on a Chip (SoC) boards.

ESP8266 is a low-cost WiFi SoC. It’s available as a dev board by different chip manufacturers. It’s highly versatile, low cost and widely used.

There are numerous frameworks in different languages that you can use to write the firmware. The most widely used language for this SoC is C, but you can also use microPython or mongooseOS to write your firmware. You’ll want to make sure the framework you choose has a lot of supporting libraries and a large community of developers maintaining and managing source code and design.

The ESP8266 dev board comes with many I/O ports and has a small memory and compute footprint. This makes it ideal for uses-cases that involve 2-way control and small data footprint (i.e. a cloud-connected light bulb).

OTA support is built into some frameworks available for this board.

There are several things to consider when choosing an SoC. The small compute and memory footprint can sometimes be an issue depending on the use cases that are being implemented. Poorly written firmware can eat away RAM and unknowingly cause the devices to fail and restart intermittently. An end product based on this SoC would require additional circuitry to turn it into a shelf-ready product.

Overall, systems like the Espressif ESP8266 are great for prototyping and are cheap enough to have in an end product manufactured at scale.

ThinCloud supports a C SDK and has a guide that can be followed to prototype your IoT use case using these types of SoCs.

Custom Hardware

Custom Hardware is the most ambitious way to build or prototype your IoT product. Sourcing all the components and managing a design lifecycle over a custom hardware implementation can be a lengthy and costly process. The advantage, however, is complete control over every aspect of your device.

That said, you would still require business specific logic implemented on the hardware. This approach is only beneficial for large enterprises who have the resources to put together a piece of hardware from scratch.

Designing your own hardware requires a lot of R&D upfront to produce a board that is production ready.

Go Build the Future

Regardless of the dev boards and SoCs available today, all shelf-ready IoT products require certain engineering efforts. Choosing the right SoC for your product can be challenging with new solutions on the market every day. Below is a simple checklist to help you choose the right hardware for your next great IoT product:

Ability to factory-reset or roll back to factory default firmware
Over the Air (OTA) Updates (Cloud-based end-device firmware updates)
Secure way to commission/decommission devices on the network
Transport-level and end-to-end security
Power supply/battery management module (if required for your use-case)

Source: https://www.iotforall.com/

How does IoT work?

Posted by: admin Posted on: July 1, 2020

Most devices in the future will be connected with each other and a hyper decision framework will define the further course of action.

Before you understand how IoT works, it is important to understand what are the important pieces and how do they piece together the puzzle, let us, therefore, look at what are the different components involved here.

Components of IoT

The main components that makeup IoT include:
1) IoT Sensors
2) Connectivity/Network
3) Cloud
4) Hyper Decision Framework
5) User Interface

IoT Sensors

The “things” in IoT come to life because of sensors. Let’s take an IoT service example, where the heating of a machine is being monitored. In a typical scenario, a heat sensor would display the temperature on an analog or digital screen and someone would be monitoring it physically or on a more advanced level when the heating goes beyond a threshold there would be an alarm raised. You will need to be in proximity to the alarm to take action.

In an IoT setup, however, this sensor would be able to send a message to a decision engine that has rules built in to take the action.

There are many types of such IoT sensors including temperature, humidity, pressure, CO2, light, occupancy, motion and more. What’s important is that these sensors are an integral part of the ‘IoT device components’. They are the origin of truth and when connected with a decision engine, can make things work.

Connectivity / Network

Now that we understand the sensor technology in IoT and what they do, let’s get to know how they communicate with the decision engine.

Decision engines are not new. They have been in existence for a few decades in the form of PLC’s. Most of these connections to the decision engines have been wired. With the increase in sensors and the proliferation of these in various devices and machines, it became more and more important to connect wirelessly.

Various connectivity protocols using radio frequency technology, have emerged in recent years. Some of the most widely used technologies are, Bluetooth Low Energy BLE, LoRa, ZigBee, SigFox and NB-IoT. There is no need to get flabbergasted by these terms. In simple terms, all these technologies have modulated the radio frequencies to provide wireless connectivity for data originating from IoT sensors.

While all the above technologies have use case-based applications in IoT, the one that has gained the most popularity is BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). Most IoT sensors can send their data to BLE using UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) and Modbus communication protocols, BLE devices have the ability to transmit this information wirelessly, to other BLE devices and or BLE receivers called Gateways.

While adding many receivers may not be possible either because of the cost or due to infrastructure limitations, BLE devices can be arranged in a Mesh Network, so that the intended receiver can receive the message through nodes that are connected on the Mesh Network. Solutions like these have made the proliferation of IoT sensors and devices across industries such as healthcare, retail, logistics and manufacturing

Once the receivers have received the data, they can send this information to the decision engines, which are mostly sitting in the cloud Private or Public cloud using onboard GPRS, WiFi, or LTE.

IoT Cloud

Now that we have been able to send the data to the cloud, let’s try and understand what is the IoT Cloud and how it is an integral part to understanding how IoT works.

IoT sensors are usually resource-constrained and require a destination where they can send the data. An MQTT (MQ Telemetry Transport) protocol is generally used by these IoT sensors to transmit data. MQTT works like a broker that receives and transmits information to whoever subscribes to it on a topic. This MQTT server is generally also called the IoT server. Generally, rules are defined on this server so that data can be filtered as it comes in.

Some have confusion on why should one need an IoT server? The rate at which the IoT sensors send data, a regular server would not be able to handle the requests.

At QuicSolv Technologies, along with the MQTT, we have built a ‘Hyper Decision Framework’ called ISAE. Data from the IoT cloud server, is sent to this framework. Let’s now understand what is ISAE and why is it required.

Hyper Decision Framework – ISAE

IoT sensors have the ability to send data to the cloud. What we do with that data is very important. In one of our employee monitoring solutions, if an employee accidentally enters a hazard area, the hyper decision framework immediately sends an alarm and notification to people involved. So, let’s break this down to understand how IoT worked. The employee tag worn by the employee sent a message to the receiver that ‘I (40567) am here. The receiver sent this message to the MQTT server. The Hyper Decision Framework picked this up and checked if the employee ID 40567 was authorized to be in the area. If not, it sent out the alarms.

So, a hyper decision framework is a set of rules built inside a rule engine that works at hyper speeds. The analysis of information received and mapping this information against a set of rules that may overlap with each other and executing the decision associated with the rule is what we call the hyper decision framework.

As another example, you may experience that in some movie theaters when the theater is not full, the temperature inside could be lower than what is comfortable and when the theater is full, you would like the temperature to be a bit lower to make it comfortable. This is because the HVAC is sending the same amount of airflow irrespective of the number of people inside the theater. By using our Occupancy IoT Sensor, we could send the number of people in the theater to the Hyper Decision Engine and it could automatically regulate the airflow, thereby, not only reducing the cost but also making our movie watching experience better.

User Interface

Lastly, there needs to be an interface to this entire system. This may manifest typically as a mobile application and it can also be used as a web-based application. This will help to provide the Machine to People interface to the solution.

This interface will help the user to interact with the system, like in the case of home automation the user interface provided will help the user to switch on or off the lights or fan in a specific room. In an industrial application, the shop floor manager can directly control a machine based on the data inputs.

IoT in the Real World

Now that we have understood the concepts, let’s understand a few ‘Examples on How IoT Works’

Shopping Mall – Proximity Marketing

The shopper of today likes to feel and touch a product before making a purchase but also prefers the convenience of a digital lense. Today, IoT is making proximity marketing a reality such that when a shopper who frequents a particular store is in close proximity of that store, IoT sensors can send the information of the user to the hyper decision framework, that will analyze shopper behavior and shopping pattern to send the right message, at the right location, at the right time and to the right person. More examples

Source : https://www.iotforall.com/

Internet of Everything vs Internet of Things: What’s the Difference?

Posted by: admin Posted on: June 18, 2020

Unless you’re an expert, there’s little difference between the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Everything (IoE). However, the latter term is broader, semantically. In this post, the author will go into the details to explain why IoT software development companies use the term IoE comparatively rarely.

The Difference

The term IoT was coined in 1999 to refer to machine-to-machine, or M2M, communication. IoE appeared a few years later, to describe interrelated elements of a whole system, including people. IoE entails not only M2M communication but also P2M (people-to-machine) and even P2P (people-to-people) communication.

To understand the differences between the three types of communication, let’s consider several examples. Say it got dark outside and you turned on a light in the office, then you sat and typed on a keyboard. This scenario provides P2M examples of IoE.

We are so used to these things that we don’t even realize they are part of a system. Another example: You make a Skype call to your colleague. That’s a simple human-to-human, or P2P, communication. An example of M2M communication, on the other hand, is the process of data exchange between your office temperature sensing devices and the HVAC mainframe.

You might think M2M communication, being technological, is the most progressive means of interaction. but IoE focuses on P2M and P2P interactions as the most valuable. According to a Cisco analysis, as of 2022, 55% of connections will be of these two types.

IoE is now considered the next stage of IoT development. Maybe this is why there are so few IoT development companies offering IoE development services at the moment. Internet of Things solutions are now more common and widespread.

4 Main Elements of the IoE Concept

Thing

By thing, we mean an element of the system that participates in communication. A thing is an object capable of gathering information and sharing it with other elements of the system. The number of such connected devices, according to Cisco, will exceed 50 billion by 2020.

What are things? In the IoT, a thing could be any object, from a smart gadget to a building rig. In the IoE, that expands to include, say, a nurse, as well as an MRI machine and a “smart” eyedropper. Any element that has a built-in sensing system and is connected on a network can be a part of the IoE.

People

People play a central role in the IoE concept, as without them there would be no linking bridge, no intelligent connection. It is people who connect the Internet of Things, analyze the received data and make data-driven decisions based on the statistics. People are at the center of M2M, P2M, P2P communications. People can also become connected themselves, for example, nurses working together in a healthcare center.

Data

In 2020, it’s projected that everyone using the internet will be receiving up to 1.7 MB of data per second.

As the amount of data available to us grows, management of all that information becomes more complicated. But it’s a crucial task because, without proper analysis, data is useless. Data is a constituent of both IoT and IoE. But it turns into beneficial insights only in the Internet of Everything. Otherwise, it’s just filling up memory storage.

Process

Process is the component innate to IoE. This is how all the other elements — people, things, data — work together to provide a smart, viable system. When all the elements are properly interconnected, each element receives the needed data and transfers it on to the next receiver. The magic takes place through wired or wireless connections.

Another way to explain this is that IoT describes a network and things, while IoE describes a network, things, and also people, data, and process.

Where Is IoE Applied?

As to the market, we can say confidently that IoT is a technology of any industry. IoE technology is especially relevant to some of the most important fields, including (1) manufacturing, (2) retail, (3) information, (4) finance & insurance, (5) healthcare.

IoE technology has virtually unlimited possibilities. Here’s one example: More than 800 bicyclists die in traffic crashes around the world annually. What if there was a way to connect bike helmets with traffic lights, ambulances, and the hospital ecosystem in a single IoE. Would that increase the chances of survival for at least some of those cyclists?

Another example: Do you realize how much food goes to waste, say at large supermarkets, because food isn’t purchased by its best-before date? Some perishable products like fruit and vegetables are thrown away due to overstocks even before they get to the market. What happens if you find a way to connect your food stocks with the racks and forklifts of the supermarket in-stock control system using IoE?

There are endless variations on uses of IoE right now, and many of them are already becoming familiar in our “smart” homes.

Source : https://www.iotforall.com/

Audio should play a central role in smart city planning.

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 27, 2020

Adding audio to your public safety video initiatives

When most people think of security tools, they likely think of cameras. And while it’s true that these devices play an important role, their efficacy can be greatly enhanced by including modern audio capabilities. Today’s cameras, often used in conjunction with intelligent video analytics, can detect conditions like loitering, unusual crowd behaviour, or a secure perimeter being breached. But once detected, they still require a first responder be deployed and there is an inherent latency until the responder arrives on location to mitigate the situation. Unfortunately, this often leaves plenty of time for a criminal act to be completed and the guilty party to leave the scene.

Implementing audio can change this. Rather than limiting the functionality of a system to detection and reaction, adding network audio to the overall solution allows an automated audio warning to be triggered by the camera – or a centralised operator can broadcast a live warning directly. In many cases, this sort of active intervention is enough to deter unwanted behaviour.

Modern sound detection can dramatically reduce response times

The ability to detect security incidents in real time is incredibly valuable. Regulators have estimated that reducing the average emergency response time by just one minute could save over 10,000 lives each year in the United States alone, and cities continue to search for ways to improve efficiency in this area.

Modern audio solutions can recognise specific pre-designated sounds of interest such as gunshots, breaking glass, and verbal aggression, raising automatic alerts to the appropriate authorities that a response action plan should be initiated. In this way, sound detection enables public safety agencies to see something, say something, and do something; a comprehensive approach that can truly move metrics and improve a city’s image as a safe place to live, work, learn, and play.

Perhaps best of all, these types of audio analytics are relatively light applications. This allows them to run as a software function directly on many intelligent IoT endpoints with audio capabilities. This means there is no need to transmit intelligible voice data, so there is no infringement on personal privacy.

Public services announcements save time – and lives

From hurricanes to public health and wellness issues, cities can be affected by all manner of potential emergencies. And when disaster strikes, keeping citizens as informed as possible so they can remain safe and secure is essential. Public announcement systems can broadcast messages in advance of a natural disaster, letting citizens know how best to protect themselves. With network audio, there is an elasticity to the functionality of the system: messages can be city-wide or targeted to a specific affected area.

Read the full article written by Kevin Taylor, Segment Development Manager, Smart Cities at Axis Communications.

MAtchUP supports the urban solution for safe parking and recharging electric scooters

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 14, 2020

MAtchUp sponsors the “Special UPV Challenge” mentoring price that was awarded to the members of the VeLOCK student collective last November in the seventh edition of the ‘UPV Challenge Ideas’. The winning idea presents parking and recharge service for personal mobility devices such as electric scooters.

This entrepreneurial initiative by VeLOCK offers different app-based services. Specifically, VeLOCK co-founder Jorge Sesma states that, apart from these services, they also provide “information on the location and availability of these parking spaces, as well the battery level and other vehicle status notifications”. Sesma clarifies that the idea is currently in an initial stage and that they expect the prototype to be ready for the summer.

Practitioners from Las Naves, Kveloce I+D+i, Fent Estudi, ETRA I+D, WITRAC and the Institute for Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications (iTEAM) from the Polytechnic University of Valencia will mentor the winners.

Más información aquí

Understanding the Differences: M2M vs. IoT

Posted by: admin Posted on: May 11, 2020

Two of the technologies that you’ll often hear about when discussing device networking are M2M (machine-to-machine) and IoT (Internet of Things).

In this article, the author (source www.iotforall.com) define M2M and IoT, as well as examine the major ways in which the two are different. Once we understand the differences between the two, we’ll be able to identify which one can better serve our business applications.

What Is M2M?

M2M, or machine-to-machine, is the foundation of the sophisticated device connectivity that we enjoy today. An M2M connection is a point-to-point connection between two network devices that allows them to transmit information via public networking technologies such as Ethernet and cellular networks.

Sensor telemetry is one of the original uses of M2M communication. For decades, businesses have used M2M to remotely monitor factors like temperature, energy consumption, moisture, pressure and more through sensors.

ATMs offer another great example of M2M technology. The ATM’s internal computer is constantly communicating with a host processor that routes transactions to the appropriate banks and accounts. The banks then send back approval codes through the host processor, allowing transactions to be completed.

What makes this an example of M2M technology is that the entire transaction happens remotely and without any need for a human operator on the bank’s side. Machines communicate smoothly, efficiently and automatically, allowing transactions to be authorized in seconds. M2M technology has a decades-long track record of improving the world’s ability to communicate and execute transactions effectively across long distances and in real time.

What Is IoT?

IoT, or the Internet of Things, is an evolution of M2M that increases the things that device connectivity can achieve at both a consumer and an enterprise level. IoT takes the basic concepts of M2M and expands them outward by creating large “cloud” networks of devices that communicate with one another through cloud networking platforms. The technologies used by IoT devices allow users to create fast, flexible, high-performance networks that connect a wide variety of devices.

Examples of IoT devices are all around us today. Smart home voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home are some of the most high-profile examples, along with the huge array of smart home devices that they connect to. But you’ll also find IoT devices used in enterprise applications for purposes such as monitoring cargo temperatures, tracking shipments and evaluating employee performance. Any network of devices that’s connected to the Internet and uses a cloud platform to communicate can be considered part of the IoT.

So, why is it that IoT applications are practically synonymous with cloud computing? The reason is that cloud architecture provides much of the infrastructure, platforms and software that IoT devices use to operate scalable and reliable networks. While IoT can function outside of the cloud, it’s the cloud that makes it useful to businesses and consumers.

M2M vs. IoT: Main Differences

First, it’s important to know that IoT is itself a subset of M2M technology. IoT involves communication between machines without human input, making it by definition a form of M2M communication. However, IoT expands the power and potential of M2M technology in new ways.

The biggest difference between M2M and IoT is that an M2M system uses point-to-point communication. An IoT system, meanwhile, typically situates its devices within a global cloud network that allows larger-scale integration and more sophisticated applications.

Scalability is another key difference between M2M and IoT. IoT is designed to be highly scalable since devices can often be added to a network and integrated into existing systems with minimal hassle. M2M networks can also be more labor-intensive to set up and maintain, since new point-to-point connections must be created for each device. (Think of the effort it takes to install a new ATM as opposed to adding a new smart device to your home’s network.)

The term “IoT” also typically refers to wireless devices, while M2M may or may not involve wireless communication. The wireless nature of most IoT devices can be both a blessing and a curse, requiring less maintenance of technologies such as Ethernet networks but shifting the burden to WiFi networks, which can be less reliable and have problems of their own.

M2M vs. IoT: Making the Choice

Is M2M or IoT technology the preferable option for your application? The answer to the latter depends on what you need from your device communications technology. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to device networking. Pick the option that makes the most sense for your business.

M2M technology may be a better choice if:

Your application requires point-to-point communication between machines
Your application has a limited set of specific machine communication needs that need to be executed quickly and reliably
Your application needs to be operational whether or not a WiFi connection is available
Rapid scalability is not a primary concern for your network
Your device network needs to be isolated for security reasons

On the other hand, IoT may be the best option if:

Your application requires real-time syncing of many different devices throughout a networking cloud
Your devices have access to a fast and reliable WiFi connection
Devices on your network need the ability to communicate with multiple other devices simultaneously
Your application requires smooth and easy scalability for large numbers of devices and users
Your application requires the ability to make its data and devices compatible with multiple standards

M2M and IoT are both key technologies for today’s business and consumer markets. As these technologies continue to develop, they’ll create new opportunities for those who understand them and can leverage each technology’s strengths effectively.

Source www.iotforall.com

What Is the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)?

Posted by: admin Posted on: April 20, 2020

The IoMT is a connected infrastructure of medical devices, software applications, and health systems and services.

And while a growing pool and general adoption of IoT technologies are benefiting many industries, it’s a wave of sensor-based tools — including wearables and stand-alone devices for remote patient monitoring — and the marriage of internet-connected medical devices with patient information that ultimately set the IoMT ecosystem apart.

The rise of IoMT is driven by “an increase in the number of connected medical devices that are able to generate, collect, analyze or transmit health data or images and connect to healthcare provider networks, transmitting data to either a cloud repository or internal servers,” the Deloitte report notes.

Ultimately, this connectivity between medical devices and sensors is streamlining clinical workflow management and leading to an overall improvement in patient care, both inside care facility walls and in remote locations.

Effects of IoMT on Healthcare

Connected devices enabled by the IoMT can improve diagnoses while allowing data collection for analytics, a win-win for the patient, and patients that benefit from the data down the road. According to the Frost & Sullivan study, almost 60% of healthcare providers are utilizing IoMT devices – and they’re reporting improved patient care.

Some benefits to providers and patients:

Objective Reporting – A machine that records and reports actual data is much more reliable than a patient’s subjective self-reporting.
Remote Monitoring – Data tracking reports patient compliance, again removing the unreliability of a subjective patient’s self-reporting.
Automation – Decrease human error and fraudulent reporting.
Precision Medicine – Targeted stimulation designed for an individual patient while decreasing negative side effects.

Wearable healthcare devices and and healthcare apps let patients and healthcare professionals stay connected. They also can make the process more efficient for healthcare workers, who may be juggling a multitude of patients. Streamlining processes and increasing efficiency lessen the workload for health workers while increasing the level of care they can provide.

Top 5 Reasons to Choose JavaScript for Your IoT Project

Posted by: admin Posted on: February 21, 2020

As proposed @iotforall in its blog, if you have IoT implementation in mind? Here are the top 5 reasons of utilising JavaScript as the language to develop your IoT-driven solution.

Node.js
Memory Management
Event-Driven Programming
Ease of Implementation
JavaScript Libraries & Frameworks

Node.js

It is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that is used to build data-centric, real-time solutions.

Talking about its application in IoT, it can be used to handle a large number of requests generated by devices such as sensors, beacons, transmitters and motors. In fact, Node.js makes the request-response flow smoother and faster.

Moreover, sockets and MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol are well suited in Node.js which are normally used for continuous data transmission in IoT applications.

Node.js comes with the NPM (Node Package Manager) equipped with more than 80 packages for IoT-application cable boards such as Arduino controller, BeagleBone Black, Raspberry Pi and Intel IoT Edison. This means that you can rapidly develop robust IoT applications with Node.js development services.

Memory Management

In languages like C, developers need to manually allocate and deallocate the memory using methods like the malloc(), calloc(), realloc(), and free(). In languages such as JavaScript, there is no need to explicitly allocate or release memory.

Also known as Garbage Collection, JavaScript values are allocated when things are created (objects, strings, etc.) and freed automatically when they are no longer used (i.e. automatic allocation and deallocation).

The garbage collector feature allows IoT developers to focus on aspects of development rather than wasting time on memory management. In a way, the automatic freeing of the unused memory results in a stable IoT solution as the garbage collector eliminates memory leaks.

Event-Driven Programming

In event-driven applications, every device reacts to various events by responding with an appropriate activity. JavaScript is great with event-driven applications.

Event loops in JavaScript allow you to run various tasks without waiting for other tasks to be completed. This helps in responding to events in real-time, handling multiple tasks simultaneously and allowing multiple devices to respond to the same event.

JavaScript’s support for event-driven programming contributes to a great extent in optimizing battery power. Read More

Shaping Europe’s digital future: European Commission presents strategies for data and Artificial Intelligence

Posted by: admin Posted on: February 21, 2020

The European Commission unveils its ideas and actions for a digital transformation that works for all, reflecting the best of Europe: open, fair, diverse, democratic and confident. It presents a European society powered by digital solutions that put people first, opens up new opportunities for businesses, and boosts the development of trustworthy technology to foster an open and democratic society and a vibrant and sustainable economy.

Digital is a key enabler to fighting climate change and achieving the green transition. The European data strategy and the policy options to ensure the human-centric development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) presented today are the first steps towards achieving these goals.

Full press release