What’s the Internet of Things and What’s New?

Everyday emergency vehicles tear round cities the world over battling with traffic and dealing with the dreaded red light, which could literally be the difference between life and death. This is where ‘The Internet of Things’ (IoT) can help speed up the journey. Peter Furtner is a Field Application Engineer at NXP Semiconductors, the company behind the potentially lifesaving system which has been road tested in the States. He said: “The traffic lights report to the system via car communication to the emergency vehicle’s system, and the system will then put all the lights in the green position so that they can go straight through. Everyone else can go at green as well, but the ambulance or the one who is really important gets through much quicker.”

You will likely have heard about ‘The Internet of Things’ and wondered what exactly this refers to. It’s actually a term that’s been spinning around for decades, and according to Furtner, means: “A lot of intelligent devices connected via a single media — the internet. You always need Smart devices at the edge — only smart devices can communicate passive devices. These passive devices are then connected by a server or a hub, and the hub takes the communication part like a sensor.”

NXP Semiconductors recently parked up in a bright, zany futuristic designed lorry in Berlin with their latest tech inventions on display. You will already be familiar with common IoT by-products including: chip and pin cards, security chips in passports, fitness bands and cellphone chips. Tap and pin is also becoming more common, meaning you don’t have to put the card in the machine anymore, saving time for the client and retailer, plus it’s more secure.

So it’s clear IoT is all around us, and plays a crucial part in our daily life, as well as transportation. Previously, copper wiring connected everything in cars. Now it’s all done by internet connection, the brainchild of NXP, meaning 40 kilos in weight is saved for the car. NXP is the number one car technology provider and going up a gear to improve car safety, by connecting cars to each other using a type of Wi-Fi system so that if a car is braking five cars in front ahead, another can send out a signal to you. The first car to be rolled out with this capability in the US has been produced by General Motors . It’s also possible to track traffic and get a signal to let you know there’s an accident ahead so you can be re-routed.

Another intriguing device on show was the voice recognition box that works on command phrases when people are busy. Furtner explained, “ You can choose different phrases and words, and configure it as you wish. Surgeons, for example, may have no hands free while they’re busy on the patient, so they can’t afford to get side-tracked. Their command could be light on, for example. People are using this already.” An innovative golf club that measures the speed at which you hit the ball is also a relatively new invention designed to improve your technique and overall game. NXP have also produced a secure payment card called “My Fare”. When you travel through a city to rent a bike, or car and tap and pay for the U-Bahn, you can use this one card instead of having a dozen apps, cards and cash.

All creatures great and small it seems, are benefitting from IoT technological breakthroughs. If you’re ever curious about your dog’s movements around the house when you’re working, you can check your phone linked to a sensor on the dog. You can then work out how much exercise they need in the evening when you’re home.

The lives of small critters could even be saved thanks to IoT. As a gerbil owner, I couldn’t help but ask if a device has been created warning if the animal was running low on food and water, and as it happens, there may well be a gap in the market for this. Dr Svend Buhl from NXP agreed there is mileage in this idea. “I’m not an engineer, but my approach would probably be to look at the level of the water, measure it somehow and communicate that data to an app on your phone, which could trigger an alarm when it goes below a certain level. You could also add infra-red sensors to the food bowl, measure the cage temperature and put in a certain safety level, so whenever the temperature of your animal rises above a certain threshold, it triggers an alarm, and maybe even automatically gets you an appointment with a veterinary surgeon.” Somebody did tell me there are patent ‘amts’ in Berlin, so I’ll be heading there imminently..

Amidst all the novel ideas and creations comes an ongoing element of danger regarding secured communication, as Peter explained: “A sensor is not something that is a smart device. It’s a sensor and cannot communicate. It can only report its own status, but it can’t establish secured communication , and this is a key issue for IoT. If you have unsecured communication, everyone can tap into, listen to, take or change information. Changing information is a very bad part. If people do this, or start doing this, then IoT kind of falls apart. People are thinking about secure communication more and more, and employing more security options for the future.”