IoT Architecture

Lecture 3
LTE 331

LTE331 1
Definition of IoT Architecture
• IoT architecture comprises a collection of physical
objects, sensors, cloud services, developers, actuators,
communication layers, users, business layers,
and IoT protocols. Because of the wide domain of
internet objects, there is no single consensus on IoT
architecture, which is universally agreed.
(Jabraeil Jamali M.A., Bahrami B., Heidari A.,
Allahverdizadeh P., Norouzi F. (2020) IoT Architecture. In:
Towards the Internet of Things. EAI/Springer Innovations in
Communication and Computing. Springer, Cham.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18468-1_2)

LTE331 2
Simplest form of IoT
Architecture
Processin
Sensors Collectors Output
g

Data transmitted using

specific communication Storage
protocol and standard

• In its simplest form, IoT setup requires some form of sensor for
example temperature sensor.
• A collector is needed to capture and temporarily store the data.
• The data are then put into storage or processed (analytics) for some
pattern.
• The processed data will be shown as output in form of visualization,

LTE331 3
One Example

• Hereby we have a temperature sensor connected to Arduino.

• The Arduino is connected to a PC as the processor and storage
unit.
• The output is display on the PC who also act as the output unit.
• The Arduino act as a collector while the PC has three roles
namely Processor, Storage and Output unit.
LTE331 4
One Example

• The sensor is connected to the collector using wire.

• Likewise the collector is connected to the PC using wire.
• In this case USB.
• Besides wired connection, wireless connection can also be
implemented such as using Bluetooth, WIFI etc.
LTE331 5
One Example

• In this setup the Arduino is connected to a Rasberry Pi

using wire.
• The Raspberry Pi is connected to another PC using Wifi.
• The Raspberry Pi may act as first level processing while
further analytics and display will be done by the PC.
LTE331 6
A Brief on Arduino
and Raspberry Pi
• Arduino and Raspberry Pi are two popular
devices in the world of IoT.
• Arduino role is more on data collector
connecting analogue sensors to it. You can go
to https://arduino.cc/ for Arduino website.
They have so many offerings with Arduino
Uno is the basic version.
• Raspberry Pi on the other hand is a proper
scaled down version of PC. It runs on Linux.
You can find more info at
https://www.raspberrypi.org/. The latest
version is version 4. Like Arduino it has pin
opened for user to play around. However
Raspberry Pi accept most digital signal.
• Sensors are mostly analogue, connecting it to
Rasberry requires and ADC (Analogue to
Digital Converter). Another option is to
connect the sensors to Arduino and the
Arduino will be connected to Raspberry.

LTE331 7
Example of
Water Tank
Sensor
• In this example the
sensor is connected to
an IoT Device (could be
Arduino or raspberry or
others)
• It is connected to a
server via Wifi network.
• Other PCs can access the
server for report.

LTE331 8
Another Perspective of IoT
Setup

• In logical perspective we can show that the flow of process will be as the above
illustrations.
• Devices are to be connection to a collector (Data aggregation & Pre-processing)
• Once collected, it can be stored and analysis is conducted on in.
• The output is implied to be part of Data Analysis

LTE331 9
Larger Network

LAN 1

• Your Arduino may be connected to other computer in the

same building, this is know as Local Area Network (LAN)
• Modem/Switch/Unifi Router will be the partition
between you and other network.

LTE331 10
 LAN 1

Cloud

• The network outside our own is usually referred as simply

cloud.
• We do not care what is happening inside the cloud expect for
sending some input and getting output.
• The most general cloud is of course the Internet

The Cloud
LTE331 11
Network and
the Internet
(Cloud)
• For example this
diagram implies that the
three computer network
we found here may be
located in different
states or country.
• All are connected to the
cloud. A general cloud
that is the Internet.

LTE331 12
Cloud Diagram

• A diagram like this suggests that the Arduino with

sensor on it is connected to a PC.
• The Arduino maybe located in Johor Bahru.
• Another PC from other location connected to the
Cloud (or Internet) also have access to the device.
• The PC maybe located in Kota Kinabalu.

LTE331 13
An Example of IoT
Implementation with Cloud Access

• In this diagram, sensors are connected to a controller unit

(can be Arduino or raspberry or others)
• It is connected to AWS Public Cloud using Wifi.
• AWS Public Cloud is a cloud service offered via Internet
• User can access the data using
LTE331 Mobile App 14
Other References to Cloud
Cloud can refer to:
• Internet
• Dedicated Wide Area Network
• Private network similar to network being used by Banks
ATM machine
• A Network in General

LTE331 15
Data Communication

• Data communication between the sensor to the intended audience is very

important.
• As the data has to go through a variety of devices, its way of transmitting
devices differs from one point to another.
• A standardized form is needed so that the transfer can happen.
• To make it happen we use communication protocol.
• A communication protocol is a system of rules that allow two or more
entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of
variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax,
semantics and synchronization of communication and possible error
recovery methods. (Wikipedia).

LTE331 16
Data
Communication
• Communication can be
divided in several layers:
• Sensing
• Communication Protocol
that happen at the sensors
• Network
• Communication Protocol
that happen at transmit
point (Bluetooth, Switch,
Router, Hub, Wifi)
• Data Processing
• Communication Protocol
the happen during
processing (such as file
format, storage format etc)
• Application
• Communication Protocol
that happen at user apps
such as HTML.
LTE331 17
Data
Communicatio
n

• In another approach, the

IoT consists of only 3
layers namely
perception, network and
application.
• Application Layer refers
to Data Processing and
Application Layer Unlike
in previous slide.
• The detailing of
communication protocol
is still the same as last
page.

LTE331 18
Example of Communication
Means and Protocol Used

• The diagram illustrate a breakdown of communication between devices and

Processing (They use the term cloud backend meaning the processing took
place on the network) LTE331 19
 User access the infrastructure
through mobile device.
Connection is done to a cloud
service that usually resides in the
Internet (but can also be in
dedicated network)
At level we have sensors (things)
connected to a collector. In this case
it can be an ECU inside a car,

End User Perspective of IoT controller unit in house etc.

connection LTE331 20
 This lecture look at IoT
Architecture.

The architecture is not rigid

as it depends on the need of
the system.
Conclusion
The system is usually
connected to the Internet or
also referred to as the cloud.
Communication protocol
layer is important to ensure
data is sent smoothly to
recipient.

LTE331 21