FUNDAMENTALS OF INTERNET OF THINGS(IoT)

Unit-IV: Implementation of IoT with Raspberry Pi, Introduction to Software Defined

Networks (SDN), SDN for IoT, Data Handling & Analytics.

*Implementation of IoT with Raspberry Pi*

Short for RPi, it is a credit-card-sized single-board computer built by the Raspberry Pi
Foundation in association with Broadcom in the United Kingdom. It can do most of the things
your typical desktop does, such as handling spreadsheets, word-processing, and games.
Raspberry Pi also has the capacity to play videos in high-definition. It can run several versions of
Linux and is used to teach kids worldwide how to program. In fact, that was one of the biggest
reasons why the idea of Raspberry Pi was conceived. But more on that later.
The “things” in IOT are connected via a Control Board, which acts as an interface, to the
Raspberry Pi.

Powering the Raspberry Pi

One of the most popular OSs used for the Raspberry Pi is the Raspbian Operating
System. The Raspbian OS is based on the Debian OS, optimized for the Raspberry Pi hardware.
The easiest way to install the Raspbian OS for the Raspberry Pi is to download NOOBS
from https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/noobs-setup/.
NOOBS stands for New Out of Box Software.
The easiest way to install the Raspbian OS for the Raspberry Pi is to download NOOBS
from: https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/noobs-setup/.
The basic implementation of IOT includes usage of a host device, a Remote Controllable Device
and connectivity between them. It requires a close association with both hardware and
software. We will now discuss them briefly.
Hardware Implementation:
The system that implements the Internet of Things includes clusters of hardware components that
we are familiar with. Firstly, we need a host like a Personal Computer or a mobile phone that can
be used to pass commands to a remotely operable device. As the brain of the system we are using
a Raspberry Pi that can be used to control and obtain a desired result from a device.
As the Raspberry Pi is more like a compact computer itself, it cannot control “things” directly. It
needs an interface to communicate the with them. Fortunately, Raspberry Pi comes with a 40-pin
GPIO set that could efficiently be utilized to communicate with the “things”. As we need an
interface between them, a “Daughter Board” is to be designed. This Daughter Board will enable
us to dim and glow a light source. Switch ON/OFF electrical devices and receive feedback from
sensors.
Software Implementation:
Hardware without proper software is nothing but a piece a brick. When it comes to Raspberry Pi,
an OS must be installed to control and configure it. And in the case of the Daughter Board,
python scripts are to be coded to work with the “things”. We have, a communications platform
for IOT devices that enables device setup and user interaction from mobile devices and the web,
can be used to accomplish communication between Host device and the Raspberry Pi.
*Introduction to Software Defined Networks (SDN)*
This model differs from that of traditional networks, which use dedicated hardware devices (i.e.,
routers and switches) to control network traffic.
So, here with computational power routers will take decision how data will be forwarded to other
router.
In traditional networking, routers have two planes like control plane and data forwarding
plane. Where control plane will decide and data plane will forward to any router. Here these two
planes were merged to send data.
Software Defined Network, is an networking architecture approach. Which enables the control
and management of network using software applications.
Through SDN, the networking behavior of entire network and its devices are programmed in
centralized control manner through software applications using open APIs.
SDN involves various planes like Control plane and Data plane, which separates these two
planes in centralized manner.
Control plane does computational task for routing and Data plane does transfer of data packets.
Components of SDN:
The three main components that make SDN are:
 SDN Application – SDN Applications rely requests or networks through SDN controller
using APIs.
 SDN controller – SDN controller collects network information from hardware and sends
this information to applications.
 SDN Networking devices – SDN Networking devices helps in forwarding and data
processing tasks.

SDN Architecture or SDN Layers:

A typical architecture consists of three layers:
 Application layer: It contains the typical network applications like Intrusion detection,
firewall and load balancing.
 Control layer: It consists of SDN controller which acts as brain of network. It also
allows hardware abstraction to applications written on top of it.
 Infrastructure layer: This consists of physical switches which form the data plane and
carries out the actual movement of data packets.

Layers communicate via a set of interfaces called north-bound APIs and south-bound APIs.
Software-based SDN controllers maintain a united view of the network
The underlying infrastructure in SDN uses simple packet forwarding hardware as opposed to
specialized hardware in conventional networks.
SDN attempts to create network architecture that are simpler, inexpensive, scalable, agile and
easy to manage.
Key elements of SDN:
1) Centralized Network Controller: With decoupled control and data planes and centralized
network controller, the network administrators can rapidly configure the network.
2) Programmable Open APIs: SDN architecture supports programmable open APIs for
interface between the SDN application and control layers (Northbound interface).
3) Standard Communication Interface (OpenFlow): SDN architecture uses a standard
communication interface between the control and infrastructure layers (Southbound interface).
OpenFlow, which is defined by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF) is the broadly accepted
SDN protocol for the South bound interface.

*SDN for IoT*

Internet of things (IoT) poses challenges that are different from traditional Internet in different
aspects — heterogeneous communication technologies, application-specific QoS requirements,
massive influx of data, and unpredictable network conditions.
On the other hand, software-defined networking (SDN) is a promising approach to control the
network in a unified manner using rule-based management.
The abstractions provided by SDN enable holistic control of the network using high-level
policies, without being concerned about low-level configuration issues. Hence, it is advantageous
to address the heterogeneity and application-specific requirements of IoT.
Why Software-defined Networking is important in IoT?
Software-defines Networking in IoT represents a substantial step forward from traditional
networking in that it enables the following:
 Increased control with incredible speed and flexibility: Instead of manually
programming multiple vendor-specific hardware devices, developers can control traffic
flow over a network by programming an open standard software-based controller.
 Customizable network infrastructure: With a software-defined network, administrators
can centrally design network services and instantly assign virtual resources to change the
network infrastructure.
 Robust security: A software-defined networking in IoT provides visibility across the
whole network, giving security threats a complete picture. With the proliferation of
intelligent devices that connect to the Internet, SDN offers clear advantages over
traditional networking.
Security in SDN
 Software-defined network security involves virtualizing security functions from the
traditional hardware they tend to operate on. They enforce virtual network functions, with
data and monitoring accessible through one intuitive interface.
 The latest generation of software-defined security applications make use of automation to
better detect anomalies in network traffic and improve the enforcement of security
policies. This makes it easier to detect suspicious activity more quickly and respond more
efficiently to prevent intrusions and minimize damage in the event of a breach.
 There is Enhanced security using SDN.
 The Security is implemented using Firewall, Proxy, HTTP, Intrusion detection system
(IDS)

Integrating SDN in IoT:

The SDN-IoT integration brings several significant benefits for IoT traffic:
1. Intelligent traffic routing and better network resources use.
2. Simplified information acquisition facilitating information analysis, decision making
and network configuration actions.
3. Virtualization, whenever required, may be easily achieved and deployed using
common SDN virtualization tools like hypervisors.
4. Visibility of network resources and access management based on user, group, device,
and application.
5. Intelligent algorithms to build effective traffic pattern analyzers.
These benefits result in IoT networks with integrated SDN capabilities becoming more agile,
scalable and based on demand.
*Data Handling & Analytics*
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of interconnected devices & gadgets that can collect &
share data by themself. IoT data analytics refers to the procedure of gathering, examining, and
deciphering data produced by these devices to gain knowledge and make wise decisions.
Data analytics uses bunches of hardware, software, and data science techniques to collect
accurate information from massive data created by IoT devices.
As more and more devices are added to IoT networks, the data generated by these systems
becomes overwhelming.
Traditional data management systems are simply unprepared for the demands of what has come
to be known as “big data.”
The real value of IoT is not just in connecting things but rather in the data produced by those
things, the new services you can enable via those connected things, and the business insights that
the data can reveal.
However, to be useful, the data needs to be handled in a way that is organized and controlled.
Thus, a new approach to data analytics is needed for the Internet of Things
The rise of future internet technologies, including cloud computing and BigData analytics,
enables the wider deployment and use of sophisticated IoT analytics applications, beyond simple
sensor processing applications. It is therefore no accident that IoT technologies are converging
with cloud computing and BigData analytics technologies towards creating and deploying
advanced applications that process IoT streams. The integration of IoT data streams within cloud
computing infrastructures enables IoT analytics applications to benefit from the capacity,
performance and scalability of cloud computing infrastructures.
Therefore, it is very common to deploy IoT analytics applications within edge and/or cloud
computing infrastructures.
• Volume: IoT data sources (such as sensors) produce in most cases very large volumes of data,
which typically exceed the storage and processing capabilities of conventional database systems.
• Velocity: IoT data streams have commonly very high ingestion rates, as they are produced
continually, in very high frequencies and in several times in very short timescales.
• Variety: Due to the large diversity of IoT devices, IoT data sources can be very heterogeneous
both in terms of semantics and data formats.
• Veracity: IoT data are a classical example of noise data, which are characterized by
uncertainty. Therefore, systems, tools and techniques.

IoT Analytics Lifecycle and Techniques:

The IoT analytics lifecycle comprises the phases of data collection, analysis and reuse. In
particular:
• 1st Phase – IoT Data Collection: As part of this phase IoT data are collected and enriched
with the proper contextual metadata, such as location information and timestamps. Moreover, the
data are validated in terms of their format and source of origin. Also, they are validated in terms
of their integrity, accuracy and consistency. Hence, this phase addresses several IoT analytics
challenges, such as the need to ensure consistency and quality. Note that IoT data collection
presents several peculiarities, when compared to traditional data consolidation of distributed data
sources, such as the need to deal with heterogeneous IoT streams.
• 2nd Phase – IoT Data Analysis: This phase deals with the structuring, storage and ultimate
analysis of IoT data streams. The latter analysis involves the employment of data mining and
machine learning techniques such as classification, clustering and rules mining. These techniques
are typically used to transform IoT data to actionable knowledge.
• 3rd Phase – IoT Data Deployment, Operationalization and Reuse: As part of this phase, the
IoT analytics techniques identified in the previous steps are actually deployed, thus becoming
operational. This phase ensures also the visualization of the IoT data/knowledge according to the
needs of the application. Moreover, it enables the reuse of IoT knowledge and datasets across
different applications.