No, not a traditional “50 billion devices…” presentation
The new world of Internet of Things, or IoT for short, has been talked about intensively. So much so that right now, for many people, simply mentioning the acronym “IoT” triggers a reaction of boredom.
This stems from the issue of talking about IoT without explaining what it is, how it helps businesses and governments and, in general, what the whole thing is about.
So, we are NOT going to bore you to death with how many billions of devices will be in the world. .
Just quickly, what is IoT (Internet of Things) about ?
IoT is about data. Not about devices, not about protocols, not about networks. It is purely data being easily available to the user. Data comes from many sources and that is where IoT is excellent. It is about the user having access to many data sources in one place, one platform: environmental data, energy monitoring, water consumption, people count, news, alarms, etc.
So, we said “platform”. OK, now what ?
You may have already notice we used the term “platform”. A lot of companies talk about it, about their “platform”. SimplyCity Australia has its own platform under the brand SimplyControl. SimplyControl is an open platform with no allegiance to a brand of products, a protocol of communication or a particular source of data.
But what is it and why do you need to know about it ? After all, you already log into 10 different sites, software programmes or “platforms” in your workplace.
“A true IoT platform is not a manufacturer controlled software or website”
A platform is not one site. Is not one single product. It is a suite of products which work in sync with each other to bring in front of the user the information required in a timely, cost effective and reliable way. These products do not have to be from the same source. In IoT, especially when we also introduce new transmission technologies, a platform is formed of several components, each with its own function.
The inside of SimplyControl IoT platform
Let us use SimplyControl platform and open its inner workings. What forms SimplyControl ?
- The LoRaWAN server
- The logic and notification engine
- The third party integration engine
- The data base
- The visualisation dashboard
We’ll go through each component and explain it.
The LoRaWAN server
This component is the first software layer in a LoRaWAN deployment. The server, or rather a collection of servers, handles the registration of gateways and devices, handles the security associated with all of these and can also handle other things such as: managing double data packets, decoding of the data, downlinks to devices (commands sent to the device) etc.
The logic and notification engine
This software part handles decoding of data when required, data allocation into the database, handles logic-based decisions for sending out notifications to the users, etc.
The third party integration engine
The third party integration engine is responsible for receiving and integrating other sources of data: websites, other platforms and software packages, API integration , etc. For this , SimplyControl. is not a LoRaWAN solution. Nor is it an NB-IOT. As a true IoT open platform, SimplyControl receives information from: LoRaWAN sensors, NB-IoT sensors, 4G/5G sensors, security systems and other via API integration, WiFi sensors, video sources, etc.
This component is a critical part in making an IoT platform an open tool for bringing data from everywhere together.
The database
The database is the location where all data received from sensors and other sources is stored for a period of time. The database is responsible for recording the data in a pre-determined order, usually time based.
The visualisation dashboard
This is what the user can see and access. The other parts of the platform are working in the background. The user interacts with the visual interface represented by the visualisation dashboard part.
To be a useful and friendly tool, the visualisation dashboard must:
- be easy to use
- be reliable
- be expandable
- be flexible to allow various visualisations options
- be able to interact by sending commands back into the data chain
- be secure
It is easy to see then that a platform is much more than a simple graphics package. Furthermore, in the context of data security, it is important to use a platform that offers complete data sovereignty.
SimplyCity’s SimplyControl platform has all components in the data chain hosted in Australia in a Tier 4 data centre. This ensures data security, fast access, easy maintenance, data sovereignty.
