The framework and construction mechanism of the Internet of Things, or IoT, are surely of importance to many tech enthusiasts and professionals as one of the biggest hotspots in the world of information technology today. As a vital part of it, the IoT gateway is important for data collection, transmission, and processing. To provide you a thorough grasp of the IoT architecture and gateway’s functions, this post will provide a comprehensive explanation of how IoT architecture and gateways work and their application scenarios, among other things.
An overview of the architecture of IoT
Though different people have different ideas about how to split IoT architecture, in general, it may be separated into four layers. Perception, network, platform, and application layers are arranged from bottom to top. Let’s discuss each of these layers.
1. Perception layer
The sensing layer, which is the basic layer of IoT, is mainly concerned with object recognition and information acquisition. Various sensing devices such as sensors, RFID tags, cameras, etc. are installed to collect various environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, light, location, etc. in the environment and convert these data into digital signals.
2. Network Layer
Network layer, which is the intermediate medium, transmits the data collected in the perception layer to the platform layer. The network layer relies on network communication technology, which is categorized into wired and wireless communication, including Device-to-Device (D2D), Device-to-Gateway (D2G), and Device-to-Cloud (D2C).
3. Platform Layer
The platform layer is the core part of IoT architecture, which integrates the application of cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies to process and analyze data, and provide functions such as visualization, storage, and business logic processing.
4. Application Layer
The application layer is directly oriented to users and is the final form of IoT value. It covers all kinds of application scenarios such as smart city, smart home, smart agriculture, etc. It provides intelligent services and solutions for users through data-driven.
Introduction of IOT gateway
In the architecture of the Internet of Things, the gateway plays a very important role as the center. It is not only a component of the network layer, but also has a variety of functions such as transmission protocol conversion, data processing, security management and so on.
1. Basic functions of the gateway
Data Transmission
It is mainly responsible for collecting data from the sensing layer devices and transmitting it through the network layer to the platform layer for processing. It converts data from different protocols so that different devices can work together.
Protocol Conversion
In IoT, devices may use different communication protocols (e.g., MQTT, CoAP, HTTP, etc.), and the gateway can convert these protocols into a unified format for better data transfer to the cloud platform.
Data Processing and Filtering
The gateway also has preliminary data processing capabilities to pre-process and filter data before uploading it to the cloud to reduce unnecessary communication. At the same time, it can also execute local computing commands for real-time response, saving system time.
2. Security function of the gateway
Due to the complexity of the IoT network environment, which is highly decentralized and has a wide variety of devices, the network security problem is particularly prominent. As the hub of data transmission, the security function of IoT-gateway is crucial.
Authentication and Authorization
The gateway is able to authenticate the connected devices, and only authorized devices can access the network and communicate data.
Data Encryption
Encrypts and protects data in transit to prevent sensitive data from leaking and being tampered with in the network.
Firewall Protection
The gateway is able to set firewall rules to monitor and filter packets entering and exiting the network, thus blocking malicious attacks.
Through this article, I believe that readers have a clearer understanding of the IoT architecture as well as the functions and application scenarios of IoT-gateways. If you are interested in IoT, welcome to pay attention to our products.