This document provides an overview of the Internet of Things (IoT). It begins with motivation for the IoT, discussing how physical objects are becoming connected to the internet through embedded sensors and the convergence of the physical and digital worlds. Examples of application domains for the IoT are then described, such as smart homes, cities, transportation and health. Challenges and future directions are also discussed, such as privacy concerns and the potential for the IoT to extend to nanotechnology and more intelligent systems.

1. Internet of Things: a glimpse
overview
1
Andreas Pitsillides, Networks Research Lab, Dept. of
Computer Science, University of Cyprus
The Second Cyprus Symposium, 'Pathways to Indefinite Lifespans‘, University of Nicosia, 24 May 2014

2. Talk Schedule
• Motivation
• The Internet of Things (IoT)
• Indicative Application Domains and real
life scenarios
• Concluding Remarks
• Future Challenges
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3. Motivation
3

4. Motivation
4
20 years on, Vision or Reality?

5. Motivation
It's a smart world?
‘The real and the digital worlds are converging,
bringing much greater efficiency and lots of new
opportunities’
WHAT if the two worlds exist, the real one and its digital reflection?
• A Real world - full of sensors, picking up everything from
movement to smell.
• A Digital world, a construction built of software - takes in all
that information and automatically acts on it.
• E.g. If a door opens in the real world, so does its virtual equivalent. If the temperature in
the room with the open door falls below a certain level, the digital world automatically
turns on the heat.
Two decades later that still sounds like science fiction.
But does it? Second Life, Google Glass, Cloud
5
2010, Nov. http://www.economist.com/node/17388368?story_id=17388368
Vision of Prof David Gelernter, Yale University, in early 1990s in his book “Mirror Worlds”.

6. Motivation
6
http://www.economist.com/node/
17388368?story_id=17388368
• emergence of connected sensors
and embedded devices (currently, mostly
living in their microcosm, but could be interconnected
in the ‘big web’, sensing and acting on the
environment)
• new ubiquitous wireless networks
(e.g. WSNs, Smart Phones) and
communication techniques and
standards
• activities of humans themselves.
‘For e.g. the micro-blogging
service Twitter’s 160m users
send out nearly 100m tweets
a day.
When they see, hear or read
something, they type it into
their computer or
smartphone, 140 characters
at a time.’!! And now Tweeting
Things
The real and the digital worlds are converging fast
due to:

7. Motivation
So,
• Smart devices and sensors are becoming an integral part
in our life, interconnected and embedded everywhere.
• New sensor and communication technologies are
appearing, some with Internet support. (e.g. sensor networks,
smart phones, RFIDs, short-range wireless communications, NFC, real-time
localization, …)
• New communication paradigms:
• More things are being connected
• People are connecting to Things
• Things are connecting to Things
• Prices for embedded computer hardware have effectively
dropped.
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8. Motivation
But
• High heterogeneity is present in pervasive
environments.
How do we bridge these technologies together?
How can heterogeneous physical things communicate
and interact?
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9. Motivation
The Internet is a solution!
• An increasing number of embedded devices are
supporting the IP protocol, thus many physical
objects now have direct connectivity to the Internet.
thus the Internet of Things (IoT).
which includes technologies and
research disciplines that enable the
Internet to reach out into the real
world of physical objects.
9

10. The Internet of Things: a
glimpse
10

11. Internet of Things (IoTs)
Thus,
As we equip people, places, and commodities
with Internet-connected embedded devices
that can sense information about the
environment and subsequently take action,
we are creating the Internet of Things (IoT).
The IoT is speculated that it will improve
society and quality of life
11

12. Internet of Things
BAN
Environmental
Sensors
• Physical Interconnection of devices, objects……integrated with virtual
interconnection of services
• A large number of these devices are MINITIARIZED devices (sensors, BAN)!!!
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13. Motivation: Is there a need?
Large sums spent on smart-infrastructure projects; some
countries made smart systems a priority of industrial policy. E.g.
• IoT is central to European Union’s “Digital Agenda” & recently concluded a
public consultation and China announced a plan with clear guidelines for IoT.
There is real need for such systems
• physical infrastructure is ageing
• health-care costs are exploding
• money is tight, ....
Can use resources more intelligently, e.g.
• Monitoring patients remotely  can be much cheaper and safer than keeping
them in hospital.
• A bridge equipped with the right sensors  can tell engineers when it needs
to be serviced.
• Today power grids, transport systems and water-distribution systems
are essentially networks of dumb pipes  make smart.
• If power grid in America were 5% more efficient, it would save greenhouse emissions
equivalent to 53m cars.
• congested roads cost the country, e.g. in 2007 in US 4.2 billion working hours lost and 10.6
billion litres of wasted petrol.
• utilities around the world lose between 25% and 50% of treated water to leaks
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14. Applying the IoT in Real-Life
Scenarios
14

15. Wide spectrum of applications
15

16. From Smart objects:
http://www.chumby.com/ (right)
http://www.nabaztag.com (left)
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Nabaztag Personal friend –
assistant – can speak ‘common
sense interesting bits, read web
text, communicator, ...
chumby takes your favorite parts of the internet
and delivers them to you in a friendly, always-
on, always-fresh format.

17. 17
Big and small smart objects
DIGITAL DENTAL: The Beam Brush
responds to the mouth and wirelessly
sends a record of your oral hygiene
habits to your smartphone.
And a big smart object ..a small smart object

18. Smart Spaces (e.g. cities, urban,
home)
Smart Transport
• Pollution control
Smart Energy
• Monitoring of
renewable energy
infrastructure
• Monitoring of
biofuel production
Smart Water
• Contamination control
• Infrastructure
monitoring (smart
pipes)
Smart Agriculture
• Contamination control
• Urban agriculture
(hydroponics)
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19. In the Smart Home of today
19

20. Internet-enabled SH products (‘smart objects’)
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SMART SQUARE: Owners can drop battery-
powered Twine sensors around their
homes to remotely monitor conditions such
as temperature and moisture.
IDEA OF A SMART HOME HAS BEEN
AROUND FOR decades.
But until now, you had to be very
wealthy—or very nerdy—to have one. A
number of companies are aiming to change that, and one of them is
Supermechanical, an Austin, Texas–based spin-off from MIT’s
Media Lab. The company’s first product is Twine.
For US $125, you get a durable rubbery
square, 68.5 millimeters on a side, that can
text, tweet, or e-mail alerts when
specific changes occur in your
home. Each Twine block incorporates Wi-Fi, internal
temperature and orientation sensors, and a headset-
jackstyle connector for adding an optional moisture sensor
or magnetic switch.

21. A ‘smart’ fridge…
‘smart’ washing machine … etc…
all interconnected into a ‘smart home’ and
beyond
Samsung is currently showcasing a fridge that
comes with an embedded touch screen that
connects to the Internet and lets users shop
straight from their fridge.
SM Internet-enabled products (‘smart
objects’)
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22. Smart Health
22

23. Smart wearables
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24. So…
24

25. From
Internet of Things
to Internet of People
“in which pervasive connectivity and
embedded intelligence will enable the
environment to learn about us and better
cater to our needs and habits to ensure our
comfort while maximizing energy efficiency,”
… and even beyond
Oleg Logvinov, panel member and Director Market Development Industrial & Power Conversion
Division, STMicroelectronics,, IEEE-SA hosted panel the “Digital Telepathy:
When Every Thing Connects”, SXSW 2013 Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, USA
25

26. SOME APPLICATION DEVELOPED AT
NetRL, UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS
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• The WoT in Energy-aware Smart Homes
• Blending Smart Homes with Online Social Networking
• Sociale Homer: Sharing Home Devices through
Online Social Networking
• The WoT in competitions for energy efficiency in
local neighborhoods
• Social Electricity (First prize award by ITU).
• Smart metering
• Integrating Smart Homes to the Smart Grid
• Beyond the Smart Home – Urban Spaces

27. Concluding Remarks
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28. Blending the real and virtual worlds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4DHt0vUulY
Did we reach Gelernter’s
vision of a real and
virtual world?
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29. Concluding Remarks
• Potential applications are out there
• Technology is maturing
• Many challenges still exist, but solutions and
some early deployments are appearing
• Generally, it is an active research field... with
many potential benefits, and perhaps potential
dangers.
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30. With so much to gain, what is there to lose?
• Privacy (potentially)
• Risk of abuse by a ‘malevolent’ government or IT
company
• ‘compared with some smart systems, the ubiquitous telescreen monitoring
device in George Orwell’s novel “1984” seems a plaything. The book’s
hero, Winston Smith, would soon have a much harder time finding a
corner in his room to hide from big brother.’
• Fairness between those with access to smart
systems, which can be better informed than those
without, giving them an unfair advantage (or
perhaps not, due to the clutter of information?!).
• Information clutter (e.g. in Germany this year they threw out 86
million RFIDs—projected to grow to 23 billion RFIDs and sensors by 2020)
and info exchanged around the globe: see our world in 60 seconds
• ... And many more ... Brother.
Concluding Remarks
http://www.economist.com/node/17388368?story_id=17388368 30

31. Future Prospects
and Challenges
31

32. Future prospects and challenges
• Internet of Nanothings
– More next
• Will Google be the First to Produce a
Conscious Machine?
– autonomously adapt and optimise within its own
environment.
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33. Nanotechnology
• Concept proposed by Richard Feyman in 1959
in his nobel prize acceptance speech
• “Plenty of room at the bottom”
• Nanotechnology are devices on the scale of
the order of one billionth of a meter(10-9)
• Example materials: Graphene,
Nanocrystallites, Nanoparticles
• Numerous healthcare applications
– Improved monitoring of chronic diseases
– Accurate drug delivery
– Nanorobots that can perform surgery
• Other applications include Aeronautics, Environmental
Science
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34. 34
NANOMATERIALS:
GRAPHENE, NANOTUBES & NANORIBBONS
Graphene: A one-atom-thick planar sheet of bonded carbon
atoms in a honeycomb crystal lattice.
(Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov)
* Carbon Nanotubes (CNT): A folded nanoribbon (1991)
* Graphene Nanoribbons (GNR): A thin strip of graphene (2004)
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35. • – much, much smaller than SNs
– A set of minified, wireless comm.-enabled nodes.
– Node components:
• CPU
• MEM
• Wireless module (antenna & modem)
• Power supply (internal or external)
– Each COMPONENT:
• ≥ 900 nanometers
– Final assembly:
• ~ 1mm-100μmeters
Nano-sensor nodes
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36. Nanomachine to treat cancer
• Issue with current chemotherapy
is that drugs kill good cells
• Aim – deliver drug to targeted
areas
• Cut the dosage down by hundred –
thousand times
• Honeycomb nanostructure that
holds the drug particles
• Valves releases particles.
Numerous approaches:
• Chemical agent
• Light
• Developed at the University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA)
http://www.rsc.org
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The Challenges of the Internet of Nano Things, Sasitharan Balasubramaniam
(Sasi), Nano Communication Centre, Department of Electronics and
Communications Engineering, Tampere University of Technology

37. DNA Nanorobot
• Robotic device developed from DNA
• DNA origami – 3D shapes created from
folding DNA
• Two halves connected with a hinge,
and shut using DNA latches
• The latches can be designed to
recognize certain cell proteins and
disease markers
• Hold molecules with encoded
instructions (antibody fragments)
• Used on two types of cancer cells
(leukemia and lymphoma)
• Developed at Wyss Institute http://wyss.harvard.edu
37
The Challenges of the Internet of Nano Things, Sasitharan Balasubramaniam
(Sasi), Nano Communication Centre, Department of Electronics and
Communications Engineering, Tampere University of Technology

38. Smart Organ
• Through tissue engineering we can
develop various body parts
• Tissues -> Organs (skin, bone)
• Using nanomaterial scaffolds, we
can grow cells on the scaffold into
tissue
• Utilizing 3D bioprinting to develop
organs
• Challenge – integration to the
existing system within the body
• Integrate sensors into the tissue
(Smart tissue)
• Robert Langer (BBC, October 2013)
www.mhs.manchester.ac.uk
www.explainingthefuture.com
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The Challenges of the Internet of Nano Things, Sasitharan Balasubramaniam
(Sasi), Nano Communication Centre, Department of Electronics and
Communications Engineering, Tampere University of Technology

39. Problems and Challenges
• Scale of nanodevices allows us to….
– Reach hard to access areas…..
– Access vital information at a whole new level (molecular
information)…..
• Devices of the future will be built from
nanomaterials, including programmable
metamaterial
• Limitation – limited functionalities!!
• Communication and networking between nanomachines
would further advance their capabilities and functionalities
o Electromagnetic (EM) Nano Communications
o Molecular Communications, Bacterial Communication
39

40. From Internet of Things
BAN
Environmental
Sensors
• Physical Interconnection of devices, objects……integrated with virtual
interconnection of services
• A large number of these devices are MINITIARIZED devices (sensors, BAN)!!!
40

41. To Internet of NANO Things
BAN
Environmental
Sensors
• MORE MINITIARIZED -> Interconnection of devices at Nanoscale AND
connection to the wider Internet
41

42. Applications: Body Area NanoNetworks
Enzyme
protocols
Cell
Nucleus
Cell
Nucleus
Cell
Nucleus
Cell
Nucleus
Cell
Nucleus
Cell
Nucleus
Micro-
gateway
Short range
transmission
Message
biomolecule
Synthetic
Nanosensor
Long range
transmissi
on
• New healthcare monitoring
approaches
• BAN -> BAN2
• Heterogeneous molecular
communication networks
• Short range (Calcium
signalling)
• Medium range
(Bacteria)
• Long range (Hormones)
Baris Atakan, Ozgur B. Akan, Sasitharan Balasubramaniam, Body
Area NanoNetworks with Molecular Communications in
Nanomedicine, IEEE Communications Magazine, January 2012.
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43. Punch line
• Would this technology enable the
Pathways to comfortable, hassle free,
Indefinite Lifespans?
• Or will it create an unbearable clutter of
information/activities/too much ‘comfort’ in
an already overloaded world?
–This questions I will leave for you to
ponder.
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44. Thank you for your attention!
Contact Details: Andreas Pitsillides
(Email: Andreas.Pitsillides@ucy.ac.cy)
NetRL Lab: http://www.NetRL.cs.ucy.ac.cy/
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Indicative reference material
As with many (generic) presentations, inspiration is drawn from the
work of others and also material from presentations. This is also the
case here, with too many references to list. Below is an indicative set. I
apologise to those colleagues that I have missed…
Andreas Pitsillides & Andreas Kamilaris, The Web of Things: Towards smart pervasive
envirnoments, Mini-Symposium - The Internet of Things, Machine to Machine
Communication and Smart Cities, held in Cape Town University, September 5, 2013.
The Challenges of the Internet of Nano Things, Sasitharan Balasubramaniam (Sasi),
Nano Communication Centre, Department of Electronics and Communications
Engineering, Tampere University of Technology
I.F. Akyildiz “The Internet of Nano-Things’’ Auia napa, ICT2012.
EEEM048- Internet of Things, Lecture 1- Introduction, Dr Payam Barnaghi, Dr Chuan H
Foh, Electronic Engineering Department, University of Surrey, 2013.