Enabling Cognitive Management Framework For Internet Of Things (IoT)

Characteristics of IoT

Discuss about the Enabling Cognitive Management Framework.

Internet of Things is considered to be a fast growing network that comprises of connected devices and objects. These objects have the capability of collecting as well as exchanging information by utilizing embedded sensors (Al-Fuqaha et al., 2015). Cars, lights, thermostats, refrigerators and other electrical appliances can be connected to the Internet of Things. IoT can create smart home and smart cities as well. In this era of information and communication technology, IoT is becoming an integral part of the society. Smart home can be considered to be the most popular application of IoT. There are several products available in the market like Nest Thermostat and Amazon Echo that can be controlled by the voice of the users and make the lives of the users extremely easy. There are several characteristics of Internet of Things like interconnectivity, heterogeneity and dynamic changes (Atzori, Iera & Morabito, 2014). Numerous areas in the lives of the people are getting transformed due to the Internet of Things. It has a great impact on the education system in the schools and universities. IoT has numerous applications in the field of education.

This report discusses about the concept of IoT in details. It gives a clear overview about the characteristics of IoT along with its examples and applications. This report focuses on the impact of Internet of Things on the environment of universities. It discusses with proper logic how the IoT will change the settings of the universities. This report also discusses about the advantages and disadvantages of IoT. It gives a brief overview of the impact of IoT on the society.

A member if RFID development community had coined the term “Internet of Things” in the year 1999. Recently this term has gained relevance due to the emergence and growth of cloud computing, data analytics, ubiquitous and embedded communication as well as mobile devices (Barnaghi et al., 2012). The world of Internet of Things or IoT consists of several devices that are connected to private or public IP or Internet Protocol networks. These devices have the capability to collect, analyze and use data for initiating actions and providing intelligence for the purpose of managing, planning and making decisions. IoT is considered to be a network that contains physical objects. Internet is not limited to computer networks. It is also network of other devices like cameras, toys, vehicles, health instruments and home appliances. Internet of Things or IoT is not based on a single technology (Da Xu, He & Li, 2014). It is a combination of various software and hardware technologies. It is the integration of IT for the purpose of storing, retrieving and processing data. It also includes communication technologies that consist of electronic systems for the purpose of facilitating communication among individuals as well as groups (Chandrakanth et al., 2014).  The heterogeneous combination of communication technology needs adaptation for the purpose of addressing IoT application needs like speed, energy efficiency, security as well as reliability. Ethernet, ZigBee, Bluetooth, GPRS and GSM are the key technologies for IoT.

Impact on University Environment

There are three categories of Internet of Things: people to people, things or machines to other things or machines and people to things or machines. IoT is a paradigm or concept that considers ubiquitous presence in an environment that consists of various things through wired and wireless connections (Cui, 2016). IoT has the ability to create a world where real, virtual and digital worlds converge in order to create and develop smart environments that has the capability to make transport, cities, energy and other areas intelligent. Everyday objects and devices that is recognizable, readable, addressable and locatable through sensing devices that can be controlled via Internet irrespective of the means of communication whether vi wireless LAN, RFID, wide area network or some other means (Feki et al., 2013). Everyday objects not only include electronic devices but also things like clothes, chair, tree and many more. IoT can be considered to be a recent revolution of Internet. Objects and devices make themselves intelligence and recognizable by the process of communication. The main objective of Internet of Things or IoT is to allow things to get connected at any time and from any place. IoT provides a global infrastructure that enables the information society to make use of advanced services by interconnecting things. Sensor networks, WSN, Wi-Fi, microcontroller, GPS, microprocessor, GSM, RFID, GPRS, 2G, 3G and 4G technologies are responsible for making IoT applications possible (Gubbi et al., 2013). These enabling technologies for IoT can be divided into categories like: technologies that are used for improving the privacy and security, technologies that helps the devices to acquire information that is contextual in nature and technologies that helps the devices to process such contextual information. The last two categories are used for the purpose of developing and injecting intelligence into the devices (Khan et al., 2012). They are the building blocks. These characteristics differentiate IoT from Internet. The first category of technologies is not a functional requirement and this helps in increased penetration of IoT.

Task automation and better monitoring: IoT enables the people to automate the daily tasks and control it without any human intervention. It maintains transparency in the various processes of the machine to machine communication (Lee et al., 2013). The tasks are done in a uniform manner. The service quality is maintained and raised as well. Necessary actions can be taken in emergency situations.

Efficiency: It is easy to obtain accurate results as the efficiency in case of machine to machine communication and interaction is more (Miorandi et al., 2012). Valuable time can be saved. People get the opportunity to do something creative rather than repeating the same task on a daily basis.

Advantages of IoT

Cost effective: Internet of Things enables the people to utilize resources and energy optimally (Rifkin, 2014). It has the capability to alert the people when there is any damage or breakdown of the system (Patel et al., 2016). This helps the people to save money. It is feasible for the people to use these kinds of technologies.

Quality of life: Internet of Things will increase the convenience and comfort of the people. It helps in the better management of the daily activities of the people.

There are few cons of Internet of Things. Some of them are discussed below.

Security and privacy: All the devices starting from home appliances to transport and water supply services, everything is connected to Internet (Perera et al., 2014). These devices have information stored in it. Hackers can attack these devices and gain unauthorized access to the sensitive information. It can cause disaster if the confidential data is lost and misused by the external intruders. Consider a situation when a health device gets hacked by an attacker. In this case the hacker will be able to change the settings of the device and harm the patient.

Compatibility: Different devices of various manufacturers need to be connected that leads to compatibility issues. If all manufacturers follow a common standard then this problem can be resolved. Even Bluetooth enabled devices have these problems. Android phones cannot be connected via Bluetooth with any iPhone. Issues related to compatibility may promote monopoly in the market where the users will buy devices from a single manufacturer.

Complexity: IoT is a complex as well as diverse network. If there are any bugs or failure in the hardware or software then it will lead to serious issues. Inconvenience can also be caused by power failure.

Lesser employment: Unskilled workers might lose their jobs if the daily activities get automated. The rate of unemployment might rise in the society. This problem can be resolved by proper education of the society.

Control: Technology plays a significant role in the lives of the people. It is said to control the lives of the people. People are getting dependent on technology and the younger generation is getting addicted to it. People are losing control over their own lives.

Interconnectivity: Internet of Things has the capability to get connected to the infrastructure of information and communication technology. There are various kinds of connectivity like PAN, WAN, LAN and NAN. The devices mainly use the WAN, LAN and PAN for interconnecting with each other. Home devices can use LAN to get connected to the Internet (Singh, Tripathi & Jara, 2014)).  4G and 3G connections can be used for communication with other devices. Smartphone can get connected to other smartphones by enabling the Bluetooth option in the devices. This interconnection allows the devices to exchange information and data among each other.

Disadvantages of IoT

Heterogeneity: The IoT devices are heterogeneous in nature as they belong to different manufacturers. They have different networks and hardware platforms. They have the capability to interact with other service platforms and other devices via different networks (Stankovic, 2014). For example, LAN connects Microsoft Windows as well as Linux computers with the Apple computers. A wireless network that uses various access technologies is another example of a heterogeneous network. A wireless network can provide service through wireless LAN and can maintain services while switching to cellular networks. This is called wireless heterogeneous networks.

Connect living and inanimate things: The trials of IoT started with connecting the industrial devices. Today the concept has widened and it deals with connecting everything including everyday devices and objects. The objects can be gas turbines and even automobiles. It can also be living things like people, farm animals and plants (Vermesan & Friess, 2013).The cow tracking project held in Essex will be able to use the collected data from radio tags for monitoring the behavior and illness of the cows. Health devices and wearable computing devices such as Fuel band and Fitbit are best examples that show how people are getting connected to the landscape of Internet of Things.

Sensors: The devices in the IoT landscape will contain sensors. These sensors will play a major role in monitoring the locations, vibrations, motions as well as temperature. These sensors will be able to connect to one another and to the systems that can interpret the information that is present in the data feeds of the sensors. These sensors will play a significant role in providing new information to the company and people (Vlacheas et al., 2013). Nest is a smart thermostat that is connected to Internet. It has sensors in it that adjusts temperature depending on whether the user is at home, asleep, awake, cold or hot in order to make the house efficient and save cooling and heating bills. This also allows alerting the user when something is wrong with the cooling or heating systems. Then there are smart plugs that has the ability to monitor the energy consumed by the devices in order to make the house completely energy efficient.

Dynamic changes: The devices that are present in the landscape of IoT have the ability to change dynamically. The best example for this is the Philips Hue system of lighting. These are smart bulbs that have the capability to change colors based on the user’s choice. It can match the in photos that are uploaded via this app. Smartphones can be used for the purpose of turning the bulb on and off (Whitmore, Agarwal & Da Xu, 2015). The users can synchronize the hue bulbs with music systems for a perfect light and sound party. The system of smart locks enables the users to unlock the doors without any keys. Friends and relatives can use this system to enter the house. But the users can disable the system when they do not want a particular person to enter their homes.

Safety: There are several benefits of IoT. But at the same time there are certain safety issues as well. The devices of IoT are connected to the Internet and are susceptible to several threats and risks (Yang, 2014). The information that is present in the devices can get misused and lost by the unauthorized users. Strong security features and policies must be incorporated for the purpose of protecting the devices from any external intrusion. The networks, endpoints and the moving data can be protected by strong security policies and procedures. If the healthcare devices are hacked then the patient data will be lost and it will affect the health of the patient. The attackers can also change the settings of the devices. This will help affect the patients.

Research studies have shown that there will be more than 285% increase in the number of IoT devices from 2015 to 2020. There will be strong developments of IoT in various segments of the society. The IoT devices can also be used for the purpose of developing a smart university. A smart environment is something where there are networked devices and sensor enabled devices that are used for the purpose of making the lives of the people comfortable. In present, all the universities are being connected to the Internet. Universities can connect other objects like doors, windows and benches to the Internet (Wortmann & Flüchter, 2015). These objects can be attached with sensors for converting it into smart objects. Smart objects will enable a classical university to become a smart university.

All the teacher and students have smartphones and other devices that are connected to the Internet. IoT can facilitate the students and teachers to locate a specific place inside the campus. Management faces difficulty to track the activities over an entire campus (Xia et al., 2012). IoT will help the management team to look after this process. IoT will help in the effective management of time. Smart universities will have several advantages like:

It gives the ability to monitor the flow of people who have the possibility of closing or opening pathways to the hotspots on the campus and even lighting halls and corridors.

It enables the people to find a particular spot in the campus like classrooms, dining halls and library.

It prevents the chance of disasters and accidents by constantly monitoring noise, humidity, temperature, light and smoke in the various halls of the university.

Several statistical analysis can be implemented for the purpose of taking measures for increasing the education quality by improving the safety and environmental conditions.

It helps in reducing the consumption of electricity by proper monitoring of the lights and other electrical devices in the institute.

Inventory of equipments and technologies can be easily achieved by a smart university.

It creates a social environment in the university where every member gets to interact of each other.

Data that is accumulated by others can be used for achieving several useful applications.

There are various kinds of sensors that can be implemented or used in smart universities. EN sensors can be used for the purpose of monitoring temperature, humidity, light and noise. SC sensors can be used for detecting motion (Zanella et al., 2014). SF sensors can be used for the purpose of detecting gas, smoke and fire. UT sensors can detect electrical voltage and NFC tags. IN sensors can detect barcode, RFID card and QR tags. The universities can also develop the following:

Smart parking: This will help the university to monitor its parking. It can help the staffs to find out vacancies.

Smart lighting: The classroom lights can be adjusted and this will help to reduce the consumption of electricity.

Smart tracking: RFID technology can be used for monitoring students present inside the campus.

Smart inventory: All the equipments and devices can have a barcode that will help to maintain inventory. The barcodes will help to find out the specifications of the devices.

The number of smart objects are increasing at a fast pace. It is giving new opportunities to the users (Jones & Mack, 2012). Universities cannot stand outside the modern world. Universities can also become smart by using IoT devices. It will develop an efficient university environment.

Conclusion

This report concluded that Internet of Things are gaining importance with time and it can be used for creating a smart university that will help universities to operate in an efficient and effective manners. This report explained the concepts of IoT in details along with its characteristics. Internet of Things are devices that are connected to the Internet. These devices can be used for automating the daily activities of the people. These devices have the capability to exchange and collect data with the help of sensors. Things like lights, cars, refrigerators, thermostats as well as electrical devices can be installed with sensors. This report showed how IoT is gaining importance and becoming an integral part of the community. IoT has the capability to create smart homes and cities. Amazon Echo is one such example of IoT that has the capability to recognize the users’ voice and help the users to lead a simple life. This report said that IoT has the capability to automate the daily activities of the people. People can utilize their time in important activities. IoT provides a cost effective solution to the people. This report also pointed out certain cons of IoT. Security is the major concern of IoT. The devices that are connected to the internet can get hacked. This can harm the people in a severe manner. Other issues include system bug and failure. This report also discussed about five main characteristics of IoT. Some of the characteristics are heterogeneity and interconnectivity. The devices mostly make the use of WAN and LAN for getting internet connection. These devices have the capability to monitor locations, temperature, vibrations as well as motions. This report also showed the benefits that universities will get by adopting IoT. Smart universities can be created by adopting IoT. IoT will enable the teachers and students to find specific location within the university campus. This report said that universities will be able to gain various advantages like reduction of electricity and effective inventory management. Universities can develop smart lighting, tracking and parking within the campus.

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