Preface

Information and communication technology (ICT) has always been dynamic and evolutionary in nature, leading to the continuous emergence of new technologies and business models. The recent advances in terms of available computing resources, software systems and communication networks, and the continuing miniaturization of hardware components have made it possible to integrate ICT into virtually anything, thus leading to the rise of a new computing paradigm known as the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT aims at realizing an old dream of turning everyday objects into smart ones that are interconnected via the Internet and able to collect and exchange data and to make decisions autonomously. This additional "smartness" covers both the communication infrastructure and applications, including monitoring systems, industrial automation, and ultimately smart cities. In a recent report, Gartner estimates that there will be 11.2 billion connected devices in use in 2018 and 20.1 billion in 2020. 1 This clearly demonstrates the great potential and importance of this model and is also the motivation behind this book.

The potential of IoT is great and the possible applications of this model are countless. Therefore, uncovering the ins and outs of the IoT is crucial to both technology and business communities. This book seeks to provide a holistic coverage of the IoT model by presenting its principles, enabling technologies, and some of its numerous application domains. Important aspects such as the need for standardization, as well as security issues are also highlighted. The book also presents two sample applications showcasing how the discussed concepts and technologies can be leveraged and put to practical use to solve some real-world problems.

The book is a cohesive material that is composed of 21 chapters authored by several internationally renowned researchers and industry experts. Each chapter focuses on a specific subject and also provides the reader with the necessary background information, thus improving understandability and encouraging the reader to think further.

The book may be used as a textbook for both undergraduate and graduate students. It also comes in handy as a reference for researchers and IT professionals who are interested in IoT concepts, technologies, and possible applications. I hope the readers will enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed reviewing and editing the submissions.

Organization of the Book

The book is organized in a way that helps the reader to first grasp the concepts and then learn about key enabling technologies before moving to some potential applications. Although I would advise to read the entire book, most chapters are self-contained allowing the reader to focus on the topics they are interested in. Cross references between chapters are provided to help the reader to navigate between them.

This book is divided into five parts, each of which is devoted to a distinctive area.

Part I: Concepts and Perspectives

This part is composed of two chapters that cover the core concepts underlying the IoT, as well as its evolution and impacts.

Chapter 1 provides an introductory overview of the IoT, including its core conceptual ideas. The chapter also covers closely related concepts and paradigms, as well as a list of initiatives and organizations that contribute to their further development. In addition, the chapter structures the broad range of technical as well nontechnical aspects by presenting a four-layer framework that addresses the IoT's enabling technologies, derived qualities of modern ICT and how they are supporting the IoT, potential for new innovations based on the IoT ecosystem, and finally IoT implications and challenges.

Chapter 2 explores some very important aspects that are usually ignored or forgotten when talking about IoT. Specifically, the chapter addresses issues like the heterogeneity of objects utilized as well as the diversity of environments within which IoT systems run, how time is critical to IoT systems in terms of development and support, people involved in the IoT ecosystem, and new security challenges the IoT poses. It also looks at big data, and both the technical and the moral challenges that result from the adoption of such intelligent objects.

Part II: Enablers

This part comprises five chapters about various IoT enabling technologies that range from hardware items and communication technologies to data processing and storage to the emerging standards.

Chapter 3 gives a general overview of various enabling technologies of the IoT. The discussion of these technologies is based on their application and functionality in the IoT five-layer model. This includes hardware components, network technologies, middleware technologies, application services, and business-related technologies. Moreover, the chapter provides a brief overview of some of the key platforms and operating systems that are widely used in IoT environments.

Chapter 4 provides an introduction to cloud computing and fog computing, two of the key back-end technologies in IoT systems. The chapter highlights the importance of these two models and shows how they complement each other and work together. The chapter presents their advantages and disadvantages, as well as some examples of IoT applications where they can be used.

Chapter 5 introduces RFID, one of the core technologies in IoT systems, and describes the important role it plays. The chapter gives a brief history of RFID showing how it is linked with the emergence of the IoT and highlights some of its possible applications and implementation challenges.

Chapter 6 provides a tutorial that explains the design and development of IoT prototypes using Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms. The chapter offers a guide that covers both the hardware and software aspects of these platforms for beginners who wish to learn about developing IoT applications. Detailed examples are provided to demonstrate how to implement IoT projects using these two platforms.

Chapter 7 looks at the development over the past 20 years of the standardization efforts for the IoT and four of its applications (and their respective predecessor technologies, if any) and at the links between them. The chapter speculates about the future of standardization in those domains based on what has been accomplished so far.

Part III: Security Issues and Solutions

This part provides three chapters about various security issues, technologies, and considerations in IoT environments.

Chapter 8 explores the main security protocols and technologies currently used in a typical IoT communication stack. This technically oriented chapter also discusses security issues in IoT environments and presents solutions enabled by research and standardization efforts to address them.

Chapter 9 introduces blockchain technology and how it can be leveraged to secure IoT systems and protect their data. The chapter provides some examples where blockchain-based solutions were proposed to secure IoT and gives an idea about integration challenges and current research efforts in this area.

Chapter 10 highlights the importance of IT auditing for organizations adopting the IoT. The chapter discusses the risks associated with the IoT and how routine and thorough IT auditing can prevent them. Risk identification and assessment, as well as audit considerations and policies are presented.

Part IV: Domains

This part is composed of nine chapters presenting various application domains where IoT technologies can be utilized. These chapters present the concepts, underlying technologies, implementation details, and advantages and challenges of such integration.

Chapter 11 represents a foundational chapter for this part as it gives an introduction to the use of IoT in several domains with focus on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) showing how IoT can be leveraged in industrial fields of application. Two of the main initiatives in the IIoT are highlighted, namely, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and the Plattform Industrie 4.0.

Chapter 12 provides an overview of IoT applications for smart cities and how it can help in improving resource management. The technical aspects and general requirements of such solutions as well as the challenges the broad adoption of IoT faces in smart cities are presented.

Chapter 13 provides a contemporary overview of the IoT applications in smart homes, or what is called in the chapter as smart connected homes. The chapter presents the underlying technologies and architectures of smart connected homes, as well as the services they offer to householders. Both the technical and social challenges are also highlighted.

Chapter 14 addresses the integration of the IoT in the energy domain. The chapter provides a broad discussion of the motivations, approaches, and challenges of this integration and presents some specific applications including smart grid, green IoT, and smart lighting.

Chapter 15 continues the discussion made in Chapter 14 by highlighting various essential developments that are required for deploying and managing smart grids and renewable generation sources using IoT. The technical requirements, industry standards, and security concerns are addressed in this chapter.

Chapter 16 provides a comprehensive discussion on the integration of the IoT in patient-focused health applications. The chapter first describes the key elements of IoT-based health care ecosystems, and then explores the different types of...