The entire ecosystem of devices that can communicate with each other on a particular network is called the Internet of Things (Internet of Things – IoT). These devices can communicate with each other by exchanging the data. This feature allows us to use the devices more efficiently by providing convenience in many sectors such as medicine, transportation, automotive and security sectors. The first device that could be connected to the internet was a Coca-Cola vending machine, which began to be used in 1982, that can control the temperature of the machine and track the number of the bottles in it.
Many protocols have been created over time to enable these devices to connect to the internet. The reasons for multiple protocols are the need for protocols that are in suitable power consumption and coverage area for the devices.
Different types of networks are determined primarily by device size and distance between devices. For example, each Nano networks cover a small number of devices that are not bigger than a few millimeters. These networks are often used in military and healthcare-related distributions. LAN (Local Area Network) connects more bigger devices to each other and to the Internet than Nano in a certain area such as building. WAN (Wide Area Network), LANs, MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks) are network protocols that cover a wide geographic area and other smaller networks.
Most Used IoT Network Protocols
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the best example of the IoT network protocol.
This protocol forms the basis of data communication over the web. It is the most common protocol used for IoT devices when there is a lot of data to be published. Nevertheless, its cost, battery life, energy-saving, and constraint are high.
MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport)
MQTT is a Client-Server message transfer protocol. It is designed to be light, clear, simple, and easy to apply.
These features are ideal for use in many situations, including restricted environments such as Machine-to-Machine communication (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
LoRaWan (Long Range Wide Area Network)
It is a long-range low power protocol that provides signal detection below the noise level. LoRaWan wirelessly connects battery powered devices to the internet in private or global networks. This communication protocol is mainly used by smart cities with millions of devices running with less power and memory.
Intelligent street lighting is a good example of the practical areas of the LoRaWan IoT protocol. Street lights can be connected to a LoRa gateway using this protocol. The gateway connects to the cloud application, which, in turn, automatically controls the intensity of the bulbs based on ambient lighting, which helps reduce power consumption during daylight hours.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is one of the most widely used protocols for short range communication. It is a standard IoT protocol for wireless data transmission. This communication protocol is safe and suitable for short range, low power, low cost and wireless transmission between electronic devices. BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is a low energy version of the Bluetooth protocol that reduces power consumption and plays an important role in connecting IoT devices.
The Bluetooth protocol is mostly used in smart wearable devices, smartphones, and other mobile devices where small pieces of data can be exchanged without high power and memory. With offering ease of use, Bluetooth is in the top of list of protocols in many situations.
ZigBee
ZigBee is an IoT protocol that allows smart objects to work together.
It is widely used in home automation. Zigbee is famous in industrial applications but it is used in applications that support low-speed data transfer across short distances too.
Street lighting and electricity meters in urban areas that have low power consumption use the ZigBee communication protocol. It is also used in security systems and smart homes.
WiFi
WiFi is a wireless local area network (WLAN) that uses the IEEE 802.11 standard via 2.4 GhZ UHF and 5ghz ISM frequencies. It provides internet access to devices within the range of WiFi (about 20 meters from the access point).
It offers fast data transfer and can process large amounts of data. This protocol is the most popular type of connection used in LAN environments.
