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| en:iot-reloaded:iot_system_design_principles [2025/05/13 10:32] – [Adopt a system-based design approach] pczekalski | en:iot-reloaded:iot_system_design_principles [2025/05/17 08:45] (current) – agrisnik |
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| An IoT system often consists of multiple elements, such as the cyber-physical system (sensors and actuator device) deployed to collect data from the environment and to manipulate physical systems, communication systems deployed to transport data within the IoT infrastructure, and computing systems deployed to process the massive of data collected by the sensor and send feedback to actuators to automate physical processes or to human operators to make some decisions (or take some actions). One of the elements of the IoT infrastructure is the cybersecurity system, which should interact with other systems within the IoT infrastructure to deliver the required service. The IoT system is sometimes designed to interact with others to provide a specific value or solve a particular problem. It is, therefore, essential to adopt a system-based approach when designing IoT systems to ensure that the interaction between the various IoT elements and other existing systems of the organisation or users delivers the expected value or addresses the problems they are designed to solve. Systems thinking, design thinking, and systems engineering methods and tools can be leveraged to develop formal tools for designing IoT systems. | An IoT system often consists of multiple elements, such as the cyber-physical system (sensors and actuator device) deployed to collect data from the environment and to manipulate physical systems, communication systems deployed to transport data within the IoT infrastructure, and computing systems deployed to process the massive of data collected by the sensor and send feedback to actuators to automate physical processes or to human operators to make some decisions (or take some actions). One of the elements of the IoT infrastructure is the cybersecurity system, which should interact with other systems within the IoT infrastructure to deliver the required service. The IoT system is sometimes designed to interact with other IT systems to provide a specific value or solve a particular problem. It is, therefore, essential to adopt a system-based approach when designing IoT systems to ensure that the interaction between the various IoT elements and other existing systems of the organisation or users delivers the expected value or addresses the problems they are designed to solve. Systems thinking, design thinking, and systems engineering methods and tools can be leveraged to develop formal tools for designing IoT systems. |
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| ===== Incorporate green and environmental sustainability measures ===== | ===== Incorporate green and environmental sustainability measures ===== |
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| Energy and environmental sustainability are among the essential constraints to consider when designing and deploying IoT infrastructures. Since IoT devices are designed to be minor, light, and powered by small batteries with limited energy capacity, energy efficiency is a primary design criterion when developing IoT devices. To reduce the energy consumption of IoT devices to a minimum level, low-power communication and networking technologies, low-power computing hardware and software, and low-power security mechanisms are incorporated into IoT devices. As the amount of data collected by the IoT devices from the environment increases, the traffic transported through the networking infrastructure to edge/fog/cloud computing nodes or data centres increases the energy consumed for data communication and computing purposes. The increase in energy consumed by IoT infrastructures increases the carbon emission from the IoT industry, which increases sharply with the rapid increase in the large-scale adoption of IoT in the various sectors of the economy. | Energy and environmental sustainability are among the essential constraints to consider when designing and deploying IoT infrastructures. Since IoT devices are designed to be minor, light, and powered by small batteries with limited energy capacity, energy efficiency is a primary design criterion when developing IoT devices. To reduce the energy consumption of IoT devices to a minimum level, low-power communication and networking technologies, low-power computing hardware and software, and low-power security mechanisms are incorporated into IoT devices. As the amount of data collected by the IoT devices from the environment increases, the traffic transported through the networking infrastructure to edge/fog/cloud computing nodes or data centres increases the energy consumed for data communication and computing purposes. The increase in energy consumed by IoT infrastructures increases the carbon emissions from the IoT industry, which increases sharply with the rapid increase in the large-scale adoption of IoT in the various sectors of the economy. |
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| In addition to energy efficiency, it is essential to minimise the amount of waste the IoT industry creates. IoT devices are powered by batteries with minimal energy capacity, resulting in a very short lifetime for IoT devices (the lifetime of an IoT device is the time to deplete all the energy stored in the battery of the IoT, requiring a recharge or change of battery). If the IoT batteries are replaced within a very short time (less than a decade), then with the deployment of tens of billions or trillions of IoT devices globally, there will be a problem of how to dispose or recycle the IoT batteries. There is already an environmental problem in managing the massive amount of batteries and e-waste the electronics industry generates. The problem will worsen if environmental sustainability is not considered as one of the design criteria when designing IoT devices. Some of the green and environmental sustainability strategies that should be considered when designing IoT devices include: | In addition to energy efficiency, it is essential to minimise the amount of waste the IoT industry creates. IoT devices are powered by batteries with minimal energy capacity, resulting in a very short lifetime for IoT devices (the lifetime of an IoT device is the time to deplete all the energy stored in the battery of the IoT, requiring a recharge or change of battery). If the IoT batteries are replaced within a very short time (less than a decade), then with the deployment of tens of billions or trillions of IoT devices globally, there will be a problem of how to dispose or recycle the IoT batteries. There is already an environmental problem in managing the massive amount of batteries and e-waste the electronics industry generates. The problem will worsen if environmental sustainability is not considered as one of the design criteria when designing IoT devices. Some of the green and environmental sustainability strategies that should be considered when designing IoT devices include: |
| *Green IoT communication infrastructure: Designing energy-efficient networking and communication infrastructure and adopting low-power networking and communication technologies for IoT networks. | *Green IoT communication infrastructure: Designing energy-efficient networking and communication infrastructure and adopting low-power networking and communication technologies for IoT networks. |
| *Green IoT architectures: Adopting energy-efficient networking, communication, and communicating architectures. For example, edge/fog computing-based architectures can be adopted where lightweight processing is shifted from the cloud data centres (often located far away from the IoT devices) to energy-efficient edge/fog computing nodes (closer to the IoT nodes). This kind of architecture improves the performance (decreases the packet delays and packet losses). Also, it increases energy efficiency as it decreases the energy consumed in transporting IoT packets through core networks to cloud data centres and reduces the computing demand of the cloud data centres, reducing their energy demand. The edge/fog nodes are sometimes energy-efficient (low-power) computing devices like Raspberry Pi. | *Green IoT architectures: Adopting energy-efficient networking, communication, and communicating architectures. For example, edge/fog computing-based architectures can be adopted where lightweight processing is shifted from the cloud data centres (often located far away from the IoT devices) to energy-efficient edge/fog computing nodes (closer to the IoT nodes). This kind of architecture improves the performance (decreases the packet delays and packet losses). Also, it increases energy efficiency as it decreases the energy consumed in transporting IoT packets through core networks to cloud data centres and reduces the computing demand of the cloud data centres, reducing their energy demand. The edge/fog nodes are sometimes energy-efficient (low-power) computing devices like Raspberry Pi. |
| *Green IoT software: Designing energy-efficient software and algorithms for processing IoT data and IoT security mechanisms. | *Green IoT software: Designing energy-efficient software and algorithms for processing IoT data and security mechanisms. |
| *Green energy sources for IoT systems: Energy harvesters are incorporated into IoT devices to harvest energy from the environment to charge the energy storage systems (battery or capacitor/supercapacitor/ultracapacitor), which supplies the IoT device when the renewable sources are not able to generate a sufficient amount of energy to power the IoT devices directly. Using renewable energy sources also increases the lifetime of the IoT devices, decreasing the maintenance cost of changing the IoT batteries or capacitors/supercapacitors/ultracapacitors and minimising the amount of waste generated from the IoT industry. | *Green energy sources for IoT systems: Energy harvesters are incorporated into IoT devices to harvest energy from the environment to charge the energy storage systems (battery or capacitor/supercapacitor/ultracapacitor), which supplies the IoT device when the renewable sources are not able to generate a sufficient amount of energy to power the IoT devices directly. Using renewable energy sources also increases the lifetime of the IoT devices, decreasing the maintenance cost of changing the IoT batteries or capacitors/supercapacitors/ultracapacitors and minimising the amount of waste generated from the IoT industry. |
| *Green IoT policies: Policymakers should also develop green IoT regulations and standards to be followed when designing green and sustainable IoT solutions. | *Green IoT policies: Policymakers should also develop Green IoT regulations and standards to be followed when designing green and sustainable IoT solutions. |
| *Green IoT education: An education strategy should raise public awareness of the need for green and sustainable IoT solutions so that IoT users, developers, and service providers consider environmental sustainability when making their choices. | *Green IoT education: An education strategy should raise public awareness of the need for green and sustainable IoT solutions so that IoT users, developers, and service providers consider environmental sustainability when making choices. |
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| ===== The IoT application context should be considered ===== | ===== The IoT application context should be considered ===== |
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| When designing IoT solutions, it is essential to consider the physical, social, and environmental context in which the device will be used. The features and specifications when designing IoT devices depend on the context of the application. The IoT systems intended for small agriculture, smart cities, smart health care, smart homes, intelligent transport systems, Internet of military things (Military Internet of Things (MIoT) or Battlespace Internet of Things (BIoT)), or smart energy should take into consideration the physical or social realities that may impact the integration of IoT systems into a given sector to fulfil a defined goal or purpose. For example, IoT devices designed for agricultural, disaster/emergency response, or battlefield purposes should operate sustainably in harsh conditions that may differ from IoT devices designed for smart homes or medical or health care purposes. | When designing IoT solutions, it is essential to consider the physical, social, and environmental context in which the device will be used. The features and specifications when designing IoT devices depend on the application context. The IoT systems intended for small agriculture, smart cities, smart health care, smart homes, intelligent transport systems, Internet of military things (Military Internet of Things - MIoT, or Battlespace Internet of Things - BIoT), or smart energy should take into consideration the physical or social realities that may impact the integration of IoT systems into a given sector to fulfil a defined goal or purpose. For example, IoT devices designed for agricultural, disaster/emergency response, or battlefield purposes should operate sustainably in harsh conditions that may differ from IoT devices designed for smart homes or medical or health care purposes. |
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| To consider the application context, it is recommended to treat the entire IoT use case as a system of which the IoT system being designed is part. In this way, the interaction between the IoT system being designed and other existing systems in the sector (e.g., cities, homes, factories, transportation infrastructure, health care infrastructures, etc.) are modelled using system engineering or systems dynamics modelling tools to ensure that the system to which the IoT system being designed is part of functions as a whole. Integrating IoT systems into existing systems in an organisation's infrastructure may create new problems that do not exist or may not benefit the organisation. Hence, it is essential to consider the application context and apply a system-based approach when designing IoT systems or solutions. | To consider the application context, it is recommended to treat the entire IoT use case as a system of which the IoT system being designed is part. In this way, the interaction between the IoT system being designed and other existing systems in the sector (e.g., cities, homes, factories, transportation infrastructure, health care infrastructures, etc.) are modelled using system engineering or systems dynamics modelling tools to ensure that the system to which the IoT system being designed is part of functions as a whole. Integrating IoT systems into existing systems in an organisation's infrastructure may create new problems that do not exist or may not benefit the organisation. Hence, it is essential to consider the application context and apply a system-based approach when designing IoT systems or solutions. |
| An effective deployment, operation and maintenance plan is essential to ensure that the IoT systems being designed are cost-effective or affordable, providing the users with reasonable returns on their investments. Every IoT system development cycle stage should be carefully planned to minimise the design, manufacturing, deployment, operation, and maintenance costs. It is recommended to carefully document the deployment, operation, and maintenance procedures in such a way as to ensure that the deployed IoT systems or infrastructure can easily be deployed, operated, and maintained, requiring minimal intervention and human resources. | An effective deployment, operation and maintenance plan is essential to ensure that the IoT systems being designed are cost-effective or affordable, providing the users with reasonable returns on their investments. Every IoT system development cycle stage should be carefully planned to minimise the design, manufacturing, deployment, operation, and maintenance costs. It is recommended to carefully document the deployment, operation, and maintenance procedures in such a way as to ensure that the deployed IoT systems or infrastructure can easily be deployed, operated, and maintained, requiring minimal intervention and human resources. |
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| In IoT applications where thousands, tens of thousands, or millions of IoT devices are deployed and spread across a wide geographical area, deployment, operation, and maintenance procedures are tedious and costly. Effective deployment, operation, and maintenance plans and tools are essential to ensure acceptable performance (reducing downtime and improving the QoS or QoE). Monitoring and preventive maintenance plans to prevent failures or breakdowns and reactive maintenance plans to restore the system after breakdowns to reduce downtime should be carefully designed and documented. Expansion or scalability plans should be created to enable cost-effective expansion and extension of the IoT system to handle more users or to satisfy customers' expectations. | In IoT applications where thousands, tens of thousands, or millions of IoT devices are deployed and spread across a wide geographical area, deployment, operation, and maintenance procedures are tedious and costly. Effective deployment, operation, and maintenance plans and tools are essential to ensure acceptable performance (reducing downtime and improving the QoS - Quality of Service or QoE - Quality of Experience). Monitoring and preventive maintenance plans to prevent failures or breakdowns and reactive maintenance plans to restore the system after breakdowns to reduce downtime, should be carefully designed and documented. Expansion or scalability plans should be created to enable cost-effective expansion and extension of the IoT system to handle more users or to satisfy customers' expectations. |
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| It is essential to develop training and support plans to ensure that the users are well trained and supported to effectively use and manage the designed IoT system to satisfy their needs. Reducing the need for human intervention is essential to keep the cost low. Deployment, operation, and maintenance tasks should be automated, especially for large-scale IoT infrastructures. Automation reduces deployment, operation, maintenance, security monitoring, and response costs. The IoT devices should be deployed to operate for decades without needing maintenance or replacement of parts for several decades. Therefore, IoT system designers should ensure that the deployment, operation, and maintenance costs are as low as possible. | It is essential to develop training and support plans to ensure that the users are well trained and supported to effectively use and manage the designed IoT system to satisfy their needs. Reducing the need for human intervention is essential to keep the cost low. Deployment, operation, and maintenance tasks should be automated, especially for large-scale IoT infrastructures. Automation reduces deployment, operation, maintenance, security monitoring, and response costs. The IoT devices should be deployed to operate for decades without needing maintenance or replacement of parts for several decades. Therefore, IoT system designers should ensure that the deployment, operation, and maintenance costs are as low as possible. |
