Application of Blockchain Technology in an IoT-Integrated Framework

History of IoT

The IoT (Internet of thing) refers to the network of billions of physical devices those have the internet connection. These physical devices or group of objects are implanted with sensors, electronics, software, processing ability and other technologies which permit them to collect data and share it with other devices or systems which are connected to the internet without any human interaction. Basically we can say that IoT is the interconnection of devices over the internet which can be used to implement the functionality in the objects which we use in our everyday lives by enabling them to communicate with each other by sending or receiving data. Nearly any physical object with internet connection to share information can be converted into an IoT device (Steve Ranger, 2020).

The use of IoT devices on a large scale assure us to convert many aspects of the way we live. Nowadays a light-bulb which can be switched on by using our smartphones. An IoT device can be a small thing such as a small toy or it can be as large as an automatic vehicle. The word IoT is generally used for the devices which are connected over the internet and able to communicate with each other independently within the network without any human interaction. For this cause, neither a PC nor a smartphone is considered as a IoT device. For the consumers, new IoT devices such as: home appliances with internet-connection, home automation components, etc are taking us towards the vision of “Smart Home concept”, providing with more security as well as efficiency (Wikipedia). The IoT devices that are made for personal use such as wearable fitness bands and the applications that helps to monitor the health, are making a remarkable difference in the field of health care services. This technology is a great help to the elder people and people with disabilities by providing them independent and enhancing the life quality at a reasonable rate. IoT systems such as traffic systems, networked vehicles and sensor implanted on roads bring us more closer to the idea of “Smart Cities”. IoT technology provide the ability to minimize congestion and energy consumption. Many companies and organizations has provided a broad data about the possible influence of IoT on the economy & internet in the upcoming years. For example- Huawei predicts hundred billion devices with internet-connection will be there by 2025 whereas, McKinsey Global Institute predicts that the financial effect due to IOT on the overall global economy may be as much as $3.9 to $11.1 trillion by 2025. All these predictions collectively provide a idea of growth and effect of Internet of things in the upcoming years (Karen Rose et al., 2015)

The intension of attaching sensors & intelligence to the physical devices that was talk throughout the 1980’s & 1990’s. Due to not having a very robust technology at that time, many project’s progress was very slow. IC’s and devices are big & bulk, which are not very effective for communication purpose. At early days this idea was termed as “Embedded Internet” or “Pervasive Computing”. In year 1999, the term “Internet of Things” was discovered by “Kevin Ashton” during his work at “Procter & Gamble” & to have the attention of his senior management towards the new technology known as RFID while he was working in supply chain optimization. As the internet was the topic of conversation or headlines during that time he prepared a presentation on it and called his presentation as “Internet of Things”. Although Kevin grabbed the attention of some of his P&G executives, but still it took at least another decade for the technology to get widespread attention (
Knud Lasse Lueth, 2014). “Human culture or our things and digital information system i.e., the internet are now very well integrated by IoT”. This is what Ashton told about Internet of things on ZDNet. Adding the RFID tags to the to the equipment’s which are expensive to help to track their location was one of the first IOT application. But after that the cost of adding sensor to any object or connecting it to the internet has continued to fall and experts predict that this functionality could one day cost as little as 10 cents, by making it possible to connect nearly everything to the internet. The Internet of Things was initially very beneficial to manufacturing & business, and its application is known as M2M (machine-to-machine). But now it is more used in equipped our home space and office space with smart appliances, by transforming it into something which is relevant to almost everyone (Steve Ranger, 2020).