I-Fi - Protocol for IoT

I-Fi... From my previous blog on IoT, to achieve that synchronization among devices and to achieve better data exchange standards it is advisable that any device can talk to any device without getting hacked. In this case security of network is major concern, also the communication should happen with minimum expenditure of device's energy irrespective of dependence on battery.

I-Fi - What is it?

It's just an acronym for "IoT - Fidelity", given by us (Pragya and me) 😋. Based on the thoughts after contemplating over the previous blog, IoT can be best observed if the communication happens over hub-node topology, here hub is required to ensure security of network (like firewall, encryption device, WiFi router), however the hub involves whenever communication between nodes or devices happen and the device-device communication is not possible in the case. So a "hybrid" hub-node topology is desired, this gave birth to the concept of I-Fi, a hybrid hub-node topology in which nodes/devices can communicate to each other without involvement of hub on every communication session.

I-Fi - How does it work?

As mentioned earlier, this protocol works for hybrid hub-node topology and best suited for wireless communication and power line communication or communication over single wire (usually observed in automation of industries). For the devices that will run this protocol will have a community of devices governed and controller by the hub, for the node to  be a member of the community the node needs to be registers on the network or the registration is done by the hub. During the registration the hub transfers the necessary credentials (that includes the network id, encryption key, etc.) to get connected to the network. After registration, if the devices e.g. Air conditioner needs to talk with, lets say temperature sensor, the device sends a request for the address of temperature sensor to the hub, hub acknowledges and returns the address of the sensor and also sends the session id. The session id is also sent to the sensor, this session can be terminated only by the device that requested the session to start, so here the hub involves only for exchange of certain information or attributes for the communication. During the session the data is encrypted with the key provided by the hub and sent over the network, any device with the session id can pick up the data and use it. Hence here the involvement of hub is minimized.

The hub is equipped with the WiFi or Ethernet ports so that the devices can be controlled over internet, the hub must be powered by the real time computer that has firewall running for security and must allow only the selected devices to communicate and control its community.

I-Fi - Where and why to implement?

This IoT engine can be implemented where automation is required like homes, industries, offices, etc. This protocol has various advantages like security, scalability, self configurable, interoperability, simplicity, lower software complexity and also lower power consumption as it does not require multiple routers or repeaters.

I-Fi - Scope and future.

I-Fi enabled with cognitive radios[1] , better hardware, multi role data transfer (acts as repeater, sensor if it has recently fetched data from real sensor, etc), etc.,  can be best possible solution for IoT.

References:

1. Wikipedia 

This is my Paper that is published in STM Journals on this topic.

These are few thoughts that came to us after contemplating over the previous blog and also observing communication of the people.

Please do comment and share your view on this and previous blog!
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