Businesses are yielding quality results from the transformative power of IoT to innovate and evolve their business model. IoT systems enable them to improve operational efficiency, boost visibility, and reduce the costs involved in business processes. Data is an organizational asset, and IoT devices help stakeholders collect, transfer, and store data. Data and analytics help boost the decision-making process to improve the business’s bottom line.
But, the IoT ecosystem is fraught with risks and challenges. The growing incidence of cyberattacks can compromise the data on the IoT network. The lack of IoT data protocols & standards remains a significant hurdle in the ubiquity of IoT networks. Within the IoT ecosystem, networking standards hold crucial importance. Standard IoT connectivity protocols help to define rules and formats to set up and manage IoT networks. It identifies the guidelines to transmit the data across the network safely.
IoT protocols are central to the IoT technology stack. An IoT system consists of various components, such as sensors/devices that collect data from the environment in which it is embedded, transferred over to the cloud that stores it. The data processing software then converts the gathered information into insights for end-use. These insights are accessible through a user interface. The right IoT protocols help define the interaction between devices, IoT sensors, gateways, servers, and user applications.
IoT protocols are classified into two categories.
· IoT data protocols (Presentation / Application layers)
· Network protocols for IoT (Datalink / Physical layers)
The IoT data protocols help connect low-power IoT devices. The communication between devices does not require an internet connection and is achieved using the wired or cellular network. IoT data protocols are:
Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP)
They are designed to address the needs of HTTP-based IoT systems. It deploys User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to secure communication between endpoints. Besides transferring IoT data, it leverages Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) to exchange messages in the transport layer securely. It helps in meeting the demands of low-energy or battery-operated devices.
MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport)
It is a lightweight IoT data protocol. The architecture is simple, and MQTT is designed for battery-powered devices. It works on top of a TCP/IP protocol. MQTT responds optimally to various requirements such as operation over wireless networks, minimum bandwidth use, good reliability (if necessary), low energy consumption, and little processing and memory resources.
Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP)
It is an open standard application layer protocol. It facilitates the flow of transactional messages among the servers. It helps in building a robust communications model. This IoT data protocol can receive and place messages in queues, store messages, and set up the relationship among the various components.
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)
This IoT data protocol for message-oriented middleware uses the XML language. It helps in exchanging structured data in real-time between the network clients. XMPP IoT is scalable and is suitable for consumer-oriented IoT deployments.
To Conclude:
These are the various types of IoT data protocols. These communication protocols enable devices and servers to communicate in new efficient and more interconnected ways.
