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| en:iot-reloaded:green_iot_energy-efficient_design_and_mechanisms [2025/01/07 20:44] – [Green IoT Software] pczekalski | en:iot-reloaded:green_iot_energy-efficient_design_and_mechanisms [2025/05/13 15:23] (current) – pczekalski |
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| ====== Green IoT Energy-Efficient Design and Mechanisms ====== | ====== Green IoT Energy-Efficient Design and Mechanisms ====== |
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| As IoT is adopted to address problems in the various sectors of society or economy, the energy demand for IoT is increasing rapidly and almost following an exponential trend. As the number of IoT devices increases, the amount of traffic created by IoT devices increases, increasing the energy demand of the core networks that are used to transport the IoT traffic and also increasing the energy demand of data centres that are used to analyse the massive amounts of data collected by the IoT devices. The large-scale adoption and deployment of IoT infrastructure and services in the various sectors of the economy will significantly increase the energy demand from the IoT cyber-physical infrastructure (sensor and actuator devices) through the transport network infrastructure and the cloud computing data centre infrastructure. Therefore, one of the design goals of green IoT is to develop effective strategies to reduce energy consumption. These strategies should be deployed across the IoT architecture stacks. That is, energy-saving strategy should be implemented across all the IoT layers, including: | As IoT is adopted to address problems in the various sectors of society or economy, the energy demand for IoT is increasing rapidly and is following an exponential trend. As the number of IoT devices increases, the amount of traffic created by IoT devices increases, increasing the energy demand of the core networks that are used to transport the IoT traffic and also increasing the energy demand of data centres that are used to analyse the massive amounts of data collected by the IoT devices. The large-scale adoption and deployment of IoT infrastructure and services in the various sectors of the economy will significantly increase the energy demand from the IoT cyber-physical infrastructure (sensor and actuator devices) through the transport network infrastructure and the cloud computing data centre infrastructure. Therefore, one of the design goals of Green IoT is to develop effective strategies to reduce energy consumption. These strategies should be deployed across the IoT architecture stacks. That is, the energy-saving strategy should be implemented across all the IoT layers, including: |
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| *The perception or "things" layer: This layer consists of IoT sensors that collect data and send it to computing platforms for analysis and actuators that manipulate physical systems based on feedback from data analytic platforms. | *The perception or "things" layer: This layer consists of IoT sensors that collect data and send it to computing platforms for analysis and actuators that manipulate physical systems based on feedback from data analytics platforms. |
| *The network or transport layer: Consists of the network (access and internet core network) infrastructure that is used to transport the data collected by the sensors to fog or cloud computing platforms and the feedback or commands from the fog or cloud computing platforms to manipulate actuation that controls cyber-physical systems at the perception or things layer. | *The network or transport layer: Consists of the network (access and internet core network) infrastructure that is used to transport the data collected by the sensors to fog or cloud computing platforms and the feedback or commands from the fog or cloud computing platforms to manipulate actuation that controls cyber-physical systems at the perception or things layer. |
| *The Application layer: This layer processes (analyses) and stores the data collected by the IoT sensor devices, which are transported to the data centres through the transport layer. The computation results can be made available to users through applications or sent back to the things layer to manipulate actuators. | *The Application layer: This layer processes (analyses) and stores the data collected by the IoT sensor devices, which are transported to the data centres through the transport layer. The computation results can be made available to users through applications or sent back to the things layer to manipulate actuators. |
| *The energy and sustainability management layer: It is an abstract layer that spans all three of the above layers, as energy efficiency and sustainability management are implemented across them. | *The energy and sustainability management layer: It is an abstract layer that spans all three of the above layers, as energy efficiency and sustainability management are implemented across them. |
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| At each layer, various energy-efficient strategies are implemented to reduce energy consumption. Much energy is used to perform computation and communicate at the multiple layers. A significant amount of energy is saved by deploying energy-efficient computing mechanisms (hardware and software), low-power communication and networking protocols, and energy-efficient architectures. Energy efficiency should be one of the main goals of green IoT systems: design, manufacturing, deployment, and standardisation. The energy-saving mechanisms may vary from one layer to another, but they can be classified into the following categories (figure {{ref>IoTDCES3}}): | At each layer, various energy-efficient strategies are implemented to reduce energy consumption. Much energy is used to perform computation and communicate at multiple layers. A significant amount of energy is saved by deploying energy-efficient computing mechanisms (hardware and software), low-power communication and networking protocols, and energy-efficient architectures. Energy efficiency should be one of the main goals of Green IoT systems: design, manufacturing, deployment, and standardisation. The energy-saving mechanisms may vary from one layer to another, but they can be classified into the following categories (figure {{ref>IoTDCES3}}): |
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| *Green hardware. | *Green hardware. |
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| <figure IoTDCES3> | <figure IoTDCES3> |
| {{ :en:iot-reloaded:green_iot-page-3.png?400 |Green IoT Energy-Efficient Design and Mechanisms}} | {{ :en:iot-reloaded:green_iot-page-3.png?300 |Green IoT Energy-Efficient Design and Mechanisms}} |
| <caption>Green IoT Energy-Efficient Design and Mechanisms</caption> | <caption>Green IoT Energy-Efficient Design and Mechanisms</caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
| *Turning off idle devices. | *Turning off idle devices. |
| *Energy-efficient manufacturing. | *Energy-efficient manufacturing. |
| To achieve the green IoT vision, deploying energy-efficient hardware in the entire IoT infrastructure (from the perception layer to the cloud) throughout the IoT industry is essential. Green IoT hardware is not limited to energy-efficient hardware design and hardware-based energy-saving mechanisms in the IoT infrastructure but also includes sustainable hardware approaches such as: | To achieve the Green IoT vision, deploying energy-efficient hardware in the entire IoT infrastructure (from the perception layer to the cloud) throughout the IoT industry is essential. Green IoT hardware is not limited to energy-efficient hardware design and hardware-based energy-saving mechanisms in the IoT infrastructure, but also includes sustainable hardware approaches such as: |
| *Using disposal and recyclable materials to manufacture IoT hardware. | *Using disposable and recyclable materials to manufacture IoT hardware. |
| *Incorporating energy harvesting systems into IoT systems or infrastructure. | *Incorporating energy harvesting systems into IoT systems or infrastructure. |
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| **Reducing the size of hardware device** | **Reducing the size of a hardware device** |
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| There has been a significant reduction in the size of electronic hardware from the times of the vacuum tube to modern-day semiconductor chips. In the early days of electronics, computers occupied entire floors of buildings, radio communication systems were large systems integrated into cabinets, and the smallest electronic device at the time was a two-way radio system that was often carried on the back ((Electronic Components, "Using modern technology to reduce power consumption", June 2021, accessed on August 2023, https://www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/using-modern-technology-to-reduce-power-consumption)). As the sizes of electronics devices decreased, their energy demand also dropped drastically. | There has been a significant reduction in the size of electronic hardware from the times of the vacuum tube to modern-day semiconductor chips. In the early days of electronics, computers occupied entire floors of buildings, radio communication systems were large systems integrated into cabinets, and the smallest electronic device at the time was a two-way radio system that was often carried on the back ((Electronic Components, "Using modern technology to reduce power consumption", June 2021, accessed on August 2023, https://www.arrow.com/en/research-and-events/articles/using-modern-technology-to-reduce-power-consumption)). As the sizes of electronics devices decreased, their energy demand also dropped drastically. |
| Over the past few decades, the sizes of computing and communication devices have decreased significantly, reducing the power required to operate them. Despite the significant progress made by the semiconductor industry to decrease the size of semiconductor chips while improving their performance, there is still a persistent drive to keep lowering the sizes of semiconductor chips to decrease their cost, reduce energy consumption, and conserve the resources required to manufacture them. | Over the past few decades, the sizes of computing and communication devices have decreased significantly, reducing the power required to operate them. Despite the significant progress made by the semiconductor industry to decrease the size of semiconductor chips while improving their performance, there is still a persistent drive to keep lowering the sizes of semiconductor chips to decrease their cost, reduce energy consumption, and conserve the resources required to manufacture them. |
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| One of the Co-founders of Intel, Gordon Moore, observed that "the number of transistors and resistors on a chip doubles every 24 months", and the computer industry adopted it as the well-known Moore's law and became a performance metric in the semiconductor or computer chip industry. As more transistors were being packed into a single small-sized chip, the sizes of computing and network equipment decreased significantly, translating to a significant decrease in power consumption. Although advanced chip manufacturing has dramatically reduced the transistor gate length, current leakage has increased, increasing chip power consumption and heat dissipation. Thus, doubling the number of transistors on the chip could double the amount of power consumed by the chip((Partner Perspectives, "Moore's Law Is Dead. Where Is Energy Saving Heading in the Electronic Information Industry?", https://www.lightreading.com/moores-law-is-dead-where-is-energy-saving-heading-in-electronic-information-industry/a/d-id/781014, 2022, accessed on Sept. 7, 2023)). | One of the Co-founders of Intel, Gordon Moore, observed that "the number of transistors and resistors on a chip doubles every 24 months", and the computer industry adopted it as the well-known Moore's law and became a performance metric in the semiconductor or computer chip industry. As more transistors were being packed into a single small-sized chip, the sizes of computing and network equipment decreased significantly, translating to a significant decrease in power consumption. Although advanced chip manufacturing has dramatically reduced the transistor gate length, current leakage has increased, increasing chip power consumption and heat dissipation. Thus, doubling the number of transistors on the chip could double the amount of power consumed by the chip ((Partner Perspectives, "Moore's Law Is Dead. Where Is Energy Saving Heading in the Electronic Information Industry?", https://www.lightreading.com/moores-law-is-dead-where-is-energy-saving-heading-in-electronic-information-industry/a/d-id/781014, 2022, accessed on Sept. 7, 2023)). |
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| In some energy-hungry IoT devices, batteries with higher energy capacity are required. The energy capacity of a battery is correlated with its size. That is, batteries with higher energy capacities may be larger and heavier, limiting the extent to which the device's size can be decreased. The energy capacity of the battery may be relatively small. Still, an energy harvesting module is attached to the battery to recharge the battery with energy harvested from the environment continuously. Adding an energy harvesting module may increase the size of the IoT device, but it improves the device's operational life or lifetime. It should be noted that the energy harvested by energy harvesting modules is minimal and that the power electronics components consume energy. | In some energy-hungry IoT devices, batteries with higher energy capacity are required. The energy capacity of a battery is correlated with its size. That is, batteries with higher energy capacities may be larger and heavier, limiting the extent to which the device's size can be decreased. The energy capacity of the battery may be relatively small. Still, an energy harvesting module is attached to the battery to recharge the battery with energy harvested from the environment continuously. Adding an energy harvesting module may increase the size of the IoT device, but it improves the device's operational life or lifetime. It should be noted that the energy harvested by energy harvesting modules is minimal and that the power electronics components consume energy. |
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| Another approach to keep decreasing the sizes of IoT devices and possibly reduce energy consumption is to integrate the entire electronics of an IoT device, computer or network node into a single Integrated Circuit (IC) called a System on a Chip (SoC) ((Anysilicon, "What is a System on Chip (SoC)?", https://anysilicon.com/what-is-a-system-on-chip-soc/, accessed on: Sept 7, 2023 )). The components are the devices or nodes often integrated into an IC or SoC, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), input and output ports, memory, analogue input and output module, and the power supply unit. The SoC can efficiently perform specific functions such as signal processing, wireless communication, executing security algorithms, image processing, and artificial intelligence. The primary reason for integrating the entire electronics of a system into a chip is to reduce energy consumption, size, and cost of the system as a whole. That is, a system that was initially made of multiple chips is integrated into a single chip that is smaller in size, may be cheaper, and consumes less energy. External devices such as the power sources (batteries or energy harvesting, antennas and other analogue electronics components) can be integrated into a SoC to reduce size, energy consumption, and cost. | Another approach to keep decreasing the sizes of IoT devices and possibly reduce energy consumption is to integrate the entire electronics of an IoT device, computer or network node into a single Integrated Circuit (IC) called a System on a Chip (SoC) ((Anysilicon, "What is a System on Chip (SoC)?", https://anysilicon.com/what-is-a-system-on-chip-soc/, accessed on: Sept 7, 2023 )). The components are the devices or nodes often integrated into an IC or SoC, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), input and output ports, memory, an analogue input and output module, and the power supply unit. The SoC can efficiently perform specific functions such as signal processing, wireless communication, executing security algorithms, image processing, and artificial intelligence. The primary reason for integrating the entire electronics of a system into a chip is to reduce energy consumption, size, and cost of the system as a whole. That is, a system that was initially made of multiple chips is integrated into a single chip that is smaller in size, may be cheaper, and consumes less energy. External devices such as the power sources (batteries or energy harvesting, antennas and other analogue electronics components) can be integrated into a SoC to reduce size, energy consumption, and cost. |
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