Internet of things
Q.1 Explain the components of IOT.
Ans:
1. Internet of Things (IoT) is an ecosystem of connected physical objects that are
accessible through the Internet (formal definition). So, in simple terms IOT means
anything that can be connected to internet and can be controlled / monitored using
Internet from our smart devices or PCs.
2. Major Components of IOT:
3. Things or Device: These are fitted with sensors and actuators. Sensors collect data
from the environment and give to gateway where as actuators performs the action
(as directed after processing of data).
4. Cloud: The data after being collected is uploaded to cloud. Cloud in simple terms is
basically a set of servers connected to internet 24*7.
5. Analytics: The data after being received in the cloud processing is done . Various
algorithms are applied here for proper analysis of data (techniques like Machine
Learning etc are even applied).
6. User Interface: User end application where user can monitor or control the data.
Q.2 Write a note on calm and ambient technology using live wire example.
Ans:
1. The IoT has its roots in the work done by Mark Weiser at Xerox PARC in the year
1990s.
2. His work didn’t assume that there would be network connectivity but was concerned
with what happen when computing power becomes cheap enough that it can be
embedded in to all manners of everyday objects.
3. He coined the term ubiquitous computing or ubicomp. Ubicomp is ambient
technology.
4. Calm and Ambient technology means technology which acts in background, not
something to which we actively pay attention i.e. Ambient noise in background
recording.
5. The term Calm technology means system that doesn’t seek your attention.
6. Example: Live Wire:
1. Live wire is one of the first IOT devices.
2. Created by artist Natalie Jeremijenko. Live wire also known as Dangling String.
3. It is a simple device: an electric motor connected to an eight-foot long piece of
plastic string.
4. The power for the motor is provided by the data transmissions on the Ethernet
network to which it is connected, so it twitches whenever a packet of
information is sent across the network. Under normal, light network load, the
string twitches occasionally.
5. If the network is overloaded, the string whirls madly.
Q.3 Difference between open source system and closed source system.
Ans:
Generally, the key difference between open and closed depends on five factors.
1. Cost.
2. Service.
3. Innovation.
4. Usability.
5. Security.
1. Cost.
➢ One of the main advantages of open source software is the cost because open source
software is free of cost.
➢ Close source, the cost can vary between a few thousand to a few hundred thousand
dollars.
2. Service
➢ Open source software relies on a loyal and engaged online user community to deliver
support via forums and blog, but this support often fails to deliver the high-level of
response.
➢ Services and support are probably the greatest advantages of using closed software
support is a key selling skills and one of the main reason people choose closed source over
open source software.
3. Innovation
➢ Open source software provides a large amount of flexibility and freedom to change the
software without restrictions.
➢ Close source software are not flexible and customization software only available for
specific users only.
4. Usability
➢ Usability is the major area of criticism for open source software because it is not reviewed
by experts and caters to developers,
➢ For closed source usability is the high selling point due to expert testing for more targeted
audience. User manuals are proper and support service also available
5. Security
➢ Security of open source is often a concern for large companies because software is not
always developed in a controlled environment hence; open source software is less secure.
➢ Close software is generally more secure because it developed in a controlled environment
and security is the first priority in closed source software.
Q.4 Write a note on DNS.
Ans:
1. Computers can easily handle 32-bit numbers, even formatted as dotted quads they are easy
for most humans to forget.
2. The Domain Name System (DNS) helps our feeble brains navigate the Internet. Domain
names, such as the following, are familiar to us from the web, or perhaps from email or
other services:
• google.com
• bbc.co.uk
• wiley.com
• arduino.cc
3. Each domain name has a top-level domain (TLD), like .com or.uk, which further subdivides
into .co.uk and .gov.uk, and so on.
4. This top-level domain knows where to find more information about the domains within it;
for example, .com knows where to find google.com and wiley.com.
5. The domains then have information about where to direct calls to individual machines or
services. For example, the DNS records for .google.com know where to point you for the
following:
• www.google.com
• mail.google.com
• calendar.google.com
6. DNS can also point to other services on the Internet—for example:
• pop3.google.com — For receiving email from Gmail
• smtp.google.com — For sending email to Gmail
• ns1.google.com — The address one of Google’s many DNS servers
7. Configuring DNS is a matter of changing just a few settings. Your registrar (the company that
sells you your domain name) often has a control panel to change these settings. You might
also run your own authoritative DNS server. The settings might contain entries like this one
for roomofthings.com: book A 80.68.93.60 3h x.
8. This entry means that the address book.roomofthings.com (which hosts the blog for this
book) is served by that IP address and will be for the next three hours.
Q.5 Discuss the tradeoffs between cost versus ease of prototyping.
Ans:
Familiarity with a platform may be attractive in terms of ease of prototyping, it is
also worth considering the relationship between the costs (of prototyping and mass
producing) of a platform against the development effort that the platform demands.
This trade-off is not hard and fast, but it is beneficial if you can choose a prototyping
platform in a performance/ capabilities bracket similar to a final production solution.
That way, you will be less likely to encounter any surprises over the cost, or even the
wholesale viability of your project, down the line.
1. For example, the cheapest possible way of creating an electronic device might
currently be an AVR microcontroller chip, which you can purchase from a component
supplier for about £3. This amount is just for the chip, so you would have to sweat
the details of how to connect the pins to other components and how to flash the
chip with new code. For many people, this platform would not be viable for an initial
prototype.
2. Stepping upwards to the approximately £20 mark, you could look at an Arduino or
similar. It would have exactly the same chip, but it would be laid out on a board with
labelled headers to help you wire up components more easily, have a USB port
where you could plug in a computer, and have a well-supported IDE to help make
programming it easier. But, of course, you are still programming in C++, for reasons
of performance and memory.
3. For more money again, approximately £30, you could look at the BeagleBone, which
runs Linux and has enough processing power and RAM to be able to run a high-level
programming language: libraries are provided within the concurrent programming
toolkit Node.js for JavaScript to manipulate the input/output pins of the board.
Q. 6 Explain the following with respect to prototyping embedded devices: Processor
Speed, RAM, Networking, USB, Power Consumption and physical size and form factor.
Ans:
1. Processor Speed: The processor speed, or clock speed, of your processor tells you
how fast it can process the individual instructions in the machine code for the
program it’s running. Naturally, a faster processor speed means that it can execute
instructions more quickly. The clock speed is still the simplest proxy for raw
computing power, but it isn’t the only one. You might also make a comparison based
on millions of instructions per second (MIPS), depending on what numbers are being
reported in the datasheet or specification for the platforms you are comparing.
Some processors may lack hardware support for floating-point calculations, so if the
code involves a lot of complicated mathematics, a by-the-numbers slower processor
with hardware floating-point support could be faster than a slightly higher
performance processor without it.
2. RAM: RAM provides the working memory for the system. If you have more RAM, you
may be able to do more things or have more flexibility over your choice of coding
algorithm. If you’re handling large datasets on the device, that could govern how
much space you need.
3. Networking: How your device connects to the rest of the world is a key
consideration for Internet of Things products. Wired Ethernet is often the simplest
for the user—generally plug and play and cheapest, but it requires a physical cable.
Wireless solutions obviously avoid that requirement but introduce a more
complicated configuration. WiFi is the most widely deployed to provide an existing
infrastructure for connections, but it can be more expensive and less optimized for
power consumption than some of its competitors.
4. USB: If your device can rely on a more powerful computer being nearby, tethering to
it via USB can be an easy way to provide both power and networking. You can buy
some of the microcontrollers in versions which include support for USB, so choosing
one of them reduces the need for an extra chip in your circuit.
5. Power Consumption: Faster processors are often more power hungry than slower
ones. For devices which might be portable or rely on an unconventional power
supply (batteries, solar power) depending on where they are installed, power
consumption may be an issue. Even with access to mains electricity, the power
consumption may be something to consider because lower consumption may be a
desirable feature.
6. Physical Size and Form Factor: Physical Size and Form Factor The continual
improvement in manufacturing techniques for silicon chips means that we’ve long
passed the point where the limiting factor in the size of a chip is the amount of space
required for all the transistors and other components that make up the circuitry on
the silicon. Nowadays, the size is governed by the number of connections it needs to
make to the surrounding components on the PCB.
