Internet of Things: An Overview

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT), which has digitized the physical world, has received considerable attention recently. IoT applications such as smart fridge, smart hospitals, and other consumer applications have made our work easier, quicker, and more comfortable. Since the early days of the IoT, consumers have connected smart devices to the network at an exponential rate, bringing us closer to a future that is nearly without limitations. We are now entering an era of even more pervasive connectivity where a very wide variety of appliances communicate, process, and analyze the data over the Internet. This paper focuses on how physical components of IoT function together to provide IoT connectivity, IoT characteristics, opportunities, and application domains, and discusses the architectures of IoT. This paper also analyzes and compares various Internet protocols, their applications, and characteristics. With the rapid improvement of IoT, this paper also describes how new technologies such as cloud computing and edge computing are becoming an important factor in developing IoT applications. In addition, the paper also delivers an overview of open research challenges as opportunities for future research.