While there are simple connectivity management platforms and device management platforms, most IoT platform on the market are a combination of multiple services for IoT at once and cover part of the value chain to provide an end-to-end solution in a single offering. Application enablement platforms specialize in the development of customized IoT solutions that focus on data processing and knowledge generation. These platforms have many integrated applications that have interfaces to external applications or custom software.
Based on this simplified description, a good IoT platform should provide the tools and infrastructure to perform as many of the key tasks IoT products need to perform as possible. For example, if your Internet of Things platform is strong in analytics, but does not help move data between devices and the cloud, there is a big gap. IoT platforms seek to address this challenge by offering a range of technologies that bridge the gap between the different sensors, assets, devices and software in an IoT system.
An industrial IoT platform enables IoT devices to connect and exchange information between different business applications, cloud services, mobile applications and traditional systems. Managing and maintaining different industrial IoT devices and networks can be costly, time-consuming and complicated. An industrial Internet of Things platform can integrate the entire management process, thereby reducing the burden and costs on the company.
The Industrial IoT Platform supports the widest range of IoT devices. Regardless of how industrial the architecture of the Internet of Things is, the IoT platform can detect the existence of an IoT device, establish a secure connection, create device identifiers, and assign them as needed.
Important features of IoT platforms are data management and analysis, application development, interoperability, device management and security. IoT platforms facilitate the scalable deployment of IoT sensors and provide a platform for managing and analyzing their IoT device data. The middleware of the IoT platform can be integrated with application hardware to create an environment for data analysis.
IoT platforms are a series of cloud-based and on-site software components that orchestrate traffic between IoT devices and IoT applications, enabling people to interact with IoT systems at the application level. They help companies combine a variety of devices and manage IoT data on a large scale. IoT platforms are also referred to as middleware, which acts as a software bridge between the hardware and application levels.
IoT platforms offer connectivity integrity, interoperability, dynamic combinability, facilitate communication and data flow, device management, system customization and service personalization. IoT platforms integrate with other IoT layers, streamline the infrastructure management and support security at multiple points in the IoT stack. Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform is a device management platform that enables IoT companies to maintain stable communication between devices and IoT platforms.
It includes connectivity orchestration, connection management and various communication services between IoT devices. This feature has nodes on devices around the world that can communicate with the low-latency IoT platform.
The criteria for an IoT platform are closely related to flexibility, integration with APIs, and the ability to control the code. These criteria are indispensable for developers who need to adapt the function of the device and its application or, on the contrary, develop additional modules. Effective device management is also important for the connectivity and security of IoT devices.
Integration of IoT systems into existing business processes such as inventory management and CRM. Cloud platforms provide a central hub for managing your data and backend processes. If you need app development skills, there is an option to bring your machine learning models to the IoT edge.
Some platforms also include additional features such as traffic monitoring, connectivity management, geolocation, device management, asynchronous updates and device provisioning. Application enablement platforms are designed as integrated solutions that provide the full range of tools necessary to get IoT systems up and running. Examples of IoT connectivity platforms include Sprint’s Curiosity, Cisco’s Jasper, Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator and ARM’s Pelion.
These companies provide capacities to an attentive base of industries and select the first consumer markets: manufacturing, energy, automotive, etc. The focus is on providing infrastructure and backend work, providing connectivity and providing a platform for specific domains and devices. The industry as a whole is evolving to generalize the platform and provide a feature set.
The architecture consists of a software platform, an application development platform and an analysis platform. As mentioned above, there are over 400 such platforms available, each of which has different strategies for expanding and growing.
The IoT platform itself will become an essential enabler and a means to collect and make sense of the data, but the real value from utilizing the results and insights will come from creating great IoT services for predictive maintenance of connected businesses. In addition, we will see the creation of new industries based on the business model of IoT data and use hardware partners to access the necessary data sources, as in the insurance industry of the future.
Data from smart and connected devices can be used to generate insights that help companies, customers and partners communicate in phases : Phase data is collected and aggregated by the device itself, and analyzed in phases for more advanced analysis. Aggregate data is used to generate basic patterns for controlling and optimizing processes and actions in phases so that the appropriate action can be taken based on the information generated.
The architecture of the Internet of Things supports both direct network connectivity and heterogeneous networks. Devices in the Internet of Things are based on different hardware platforms and networks and interact with other devices, services and platforms in different networks.
Connectivity management is a key feature for IoT devices. If you use connectivity services from multiple carriers, you will need an IoT platform such as Sierra Wirelesss AirVenture to manage subscriptions between multiple carriers so you can simplify your supplier management and centralize SIM fleet management, and also select a subscription option for the platform to optimize the communication cost of your IoT device when you ship it to different markets. With cellular technologies providing global coverage and long-term sustainability, a growing number of commercial IoT devices, including wireless modules, gateways and SIMs, allow bi-directional communication over mobile networks.
iot connectivity landscape is a Wide-Area-Wide-Network Wireless Spread Spectrum Modulation technology. An open technology standardized by LORA AllianceA (r), designed to meet the IoT requirements for low-power, wide-range networks and operating on unlicensed frequencies, ensures global interoperability and high scalability.
The mission of LORA Alliance is to standardize low-power wide area networks (LPWANs) used worldwide to enable the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) in smart cities and industrial applications. The mission statement continues : “The Alliance is working together to advance the global success of Lora Protocol and Lorawan by sharing knowledge and experiences and ensuring interoperability between operators through an open global standard. The Lorawan network is a server in the core of the network that enables the connectivity, management and monitoring of devices, gateways and end-user applications.