An IoT gateway is a hardware or software component that connects controllers, sensors, and other smart devices to the cloud. Whether it's a dedicated hardware device or software program, an IoT gateway is where all data transmitted between IoT devices and the cloud is routed. Smart gateway or control layer is another name for an IoT gateway.
What is an IoT gateway?
Data is transmitted between IoT devices and the cloud using IoT gateways, which can also function as network routers. Initially, most gateway devices simply routed traffic from IoT devices to the cloud. Gateway devices now frequently manage both inbound and outbound traffic. IoT data is sent to the cloud using outbound traffic streams, while device management operations such as firmware updates use inbound traffic.
Some IoT gateways perform tasks beyond traffic routing. Sometimes, gateway devices can preprocess data locally at the edge before sending it to the cloud. To reduce the amount of data that needs to be sent to the cloud, the device may perform deduplication, aggregation, or summarization of the data during this process. This can significantly impact response time and network transmission costs.
Use an IoT gateway to send data between IoT devices and the cloud.
The additional security layer for IoT networks and the data they transmit is another advantage of IoT gateways. Despite improvements, the security of IoT devices has often proven lacking. For example, the TCP/IP library used by hundreds of millions of IoT devices was found to contain the Ripple20 vulnerability in 2020, making such devices vulnerable to attack.
Employing IoT gateways with features such as tamper detection, encryption, hardware random number generators, and encryption engines is one way businesses can protect their IoT networks. These and other features can help protect individual devices from attacks and also safeguard the IoT gateway itself.
How do IoT gateways work?
A simple IoT gateway performs similar functions to a Wi-Fi router. The gateway receives Wi-Fi connections from the IoT system and then routes the data from the IoT devices to the cloud. However, IoT gateways are typically much more complex.
The fact that IoT devices use a variety of different protocols makes IoT gateways typically more complex than Wi-Fi routers. These protocols include Bluetooth Low Energy, BACnet, Zigbee, and Z-Wave. Therefore, to support all IoT devices within an enterprise, an IoT gateway may need to handle a wide range of protocols.
The fact that IoT devices use a variety of different protocols makes gateways typically more complex than Wi-Fi routers.
In addition to supporting these protocols, gateways must also be able to route various forms of IoT traffic to the right locations. While data from building safety sensors may need to be transmitted to a SaaS provider running a cloud-based security interface, data from a suite of industrial sensors may need to be transmitted to a database in the cloud.
IoT gateways may need to cache data locally in the event of an internet outage, or if the gateway is overwhelmed with data that exceeds its processing capacity, which is another reason why they may be more complex than Wi-Fi routers.
IoT gateways often provide failover clustering or horizontal scaling capabilities to handle growing workloads.
Edge computing and IoT gateways
Some IoT devices generate massive amounts of data. This can be problematic if a company has a sizable ecosystem of IoT devices and wants to send all that data to the cloud. IoT gadgets can consume all of a company's internet capacity, and storing data in the cloud is expensive.
Using edge computing for at least some basic data processing can help prevent such problems. By reducing the amount of data that must be transmitted to the cloud, this approach helps reduce costs and bandwidth usage.
Suppose a company has a set of IP-enabled security cameras that are transmitting live data. Sending all the unprocessed surveillance footage to the cloud for data processing makes little sense, especially if some cameras are primarily focused on empty spaces.
This could be a problem if a company has a large ecosystem of IoT devices and wants to send data from all those devices to the cloud.
Processing video footage at the edge is more efficient than uploading all surveillance footage immediately. Edge devices can distinguish between security footage that the enterprise deems worth retaining and irrelevant footage, such as video from an empty room. Video footage that must be evaluated can be sent from the edge device to the gateway device, which then uploads the information to the cloud.
IoT gateways are essential for controlling and protecting IoT devices, and they can also help businesses reduce their bandwidth usage related to IoT.
IoT gateway architecture
There are four architectural layers in the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure. These include the following:
Network Layer: At this layer, data is compiled from multiple sources and sent securely to the processing system. Data aggregation and format conversion are tasks performed by the Data Acquisition System (DAS). At this level, IoT gateways can securely connect IoT devices and processing infrastructure.
Sensor layer: The device collects data at the sensor layer for later processing.
Data preprocessing layer: IoT sensor data undergoes preprocessing and basic data analysis at this layer to limit the data volume before transmission to the cloud-based infrastructure. IoT edge devices operate at this layer.
Cloud application layer: Thanks to cloud-based infrastructure, applications and users can access data and the results of in-depth data analysis. Data warehousing or storage is also possible at this layer.
IoT gateway hardware
IoT gateway devices fill the communication gap between cloud-based IoT platforms, sensors, devices, and systems. They provide local processing and storage solutions, as well as the ability to autonomously manage field devices based on sensor input data by systematically connecting the field and the cloud.
The edge gateway is located at the boundary of the edge system, where the local Intranet used by other devices in your ecosystem meets the public Internet. It is the primary access point for network connectivity within and outside the device ecosystem.
IoT gateways are crucial for controlling and protecting IoT devices.
Is a router an IoT gateway?
Routers are perhaps the most widely used of all IoT gateways. They carry IP packets in and out of the local network, as well as into and out of IoT devices, enabling your smart sensors or other devices to connect to the Internet and share the data they generate.
IoT gateway software
The digital age hasn't yet seen the arrival of many machines and factories. To leverage the advantages of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), they must first be connected. The solution is IoT gateway software, which can be used for both new and currently installed devices.
IoT gateway software enhances the transparency of machine and process data. Real-time monitoring of process data, including temperature, pressure, vibration, etc., ensures your output meets high standards. Rule-based analysis of specific data makes predictive and planned plant maintenance easier.
Advantages of using IoT gateways
Setting up an IoT gateway will provide both short-term and long-term benefits, whether your business is preparing to make a large investment in IoT or looking to start using some devices here and there.
Connect the devices to each other
An IoT gateway is similar to a universal remote control. A universal remote control lets you operate all your gadgets from one area, saving you time and effort. While you can have multiple remotes, each for a specific device, it's not convenient. Your devices can still run and be controlled without an IoT gateway, but it's much more difficult and you can't set them up to work together.
An IoT gateway acts as a central hub for data transmission between connected devices. Through the cloud, people and other devices can communicate with each other. When you send or receive information to or from an IoT device (such as protocol changes), the IoT gateway and cloud-enabled software are used to communicate with the IoT device.
To expand and simplify their functionality throughout the physical space, and to interconnect with a growing number of IoT devices and smart sensors, IoT gateways can be installed early in your technology plan, allowing you to easily and quickly add devices.
Your IoT gateway can not only enable communication between devices, but also simplify communication by filtering data into valuable information.
Data Filtering
Your IoT gateway not only enables communication between devices, but also simplifies communication by filtering data into valuable information. Looking at every record would be useless and would slow down the execution and communication speed of IoT devices, as they can capture new bits of data in an instant. To improve communication and response time, IoT gateways are intelligent and capable of operating at the edge. This means that each gateway can consider and examine the data provided before sending only the necessary filtered data to the cloud.
Translate communication between IoT devices
Although IoT devices are rapidly integrating into our daily lives, and new services and products are constantly emerging to improve almost every aspect of our lives, there is currently no standard for a universal device language.
For example, even if office lighting and climate control may be equipped with motion sensors, it is doubtful whether they can interact with each other's data unless they are made by the same company or unless you have an IoT gateway that can translate them.
As more IoT devices are added, the hub becomes increasingly important in simplifying how they work together.
Relieve security
Security concerns arising from IoT devices increase with their sheer number. You may have heard horrific stories about IoT malfunctions, such as smart cars going out of control or Wi-Fi baby monitors allowing hackers to eavesdrop. All IoT devices are vulnerable to external interference and hacking, but IoT gateways add another layer between the internet and the actual devices. Even if your business isn't investing heavily in IoT, a gateway allows for future investments while enhancing the security of the IoT devices you already own.
The security issues arising from IoT devices increase with their increasing number.
Smart Edge
It's crucial to remember that IoT gateways are examples of "edge intelligence" or "smart edge." This means that data can be processed and understood by the IoT gateway itself, without the need for translation and processing by a third party or individual. IoT gateways are a prime example of proactive intelligent edge.
IoT gateway example:
Below we can see some real-world use cases for IoT gateways, and next we will explain two different examples:
Video surveillance system
IoT companies now offer high-definition video surveillance solutions with superior image quality. This would be impossible without IoT gateways that preprocess, filter, and compress the data.
These systems generate a large volume of records that require extensive storage and inspection in some form. As we have already discussed, IoT gateways may have additional computing power to preprocess the data. Thanks to edge computing, video sources are automatically evaluated locally. Therefore, the system does not retain meaningless records.
The IoT company now offers high-definition video surveillance solutions with superior image quality.
Industrial refrigerator monitoring
This system focuses on managing and monitoring the collected data, displaying various metrics within the industrial freezer. Let's focus on the components we need—the information gathering—rather than the technical complexity of the solution.
The industrial refrigerator monitoring sensor nodes should be able to withstand extremely low temperatures. In such harsh environments, it is best not to connect the sensors directly to the internet via 4G.
IoT gateways use low-range protocols to collect data from sensors and then send it to the cloud. The need to handle low temperatures disappears because they are located outside of harsh environments.
IoT edge security
An example of a smart IoT device installed at the network edge is an IoT gateway. These devices can offer both the advantages and disadvantages of IoT security.
Decentralized infrastructure
The moderate data processing capabilities of IoT gateways offer both advantages and disadvantages in terms of security. Edge computing for distributed data processing contributes to resilience and data minimization, but the security of distributed architectures can be more challenging because they cannot be shielded by perimeter-based defenses.
Data minimization
Data generated by IoT devices must be filtered by an IoT gateway before being sent over the Internet. This helps reduce the amount of data exchanged and the possibility of leaking critical data via network communication or cloud-based servers.
IoT gateways can have built-in security features between IoT devices and the open internet.
Edge security
IoT gateways can have built-in security features between IoT devices and the open internet. Because IoT helps eliminate security vulnerabilities often found in IoT devices, this helps protect an organization's IoT devices and the sensitive data they collect from cyber threats.
in conclusion
Enterprises frequently deploy IoT devices, which presents challenges in managing and monitoring them. Centralized hubs, known as IoT gateways, connect IoT gadgets and sensors to the cloud and data processing.
Modern IoT gateways often enable bidirectional data transmission between the cloud and IoT devices. Therefore, IoT sensor data can be uploaded for processing, and commands can be sent from cloud-based applications to IoT devices.
