Internet of Things (IoT) Fundamental Concepts and Trends

Gustavo A. Chaparro-Baquero, Ph.D.Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Florida International

University (FIU). Miami, FL. U.S.A.

Introduction

• Smart Embedded Systems – Surveillance cameras– Car infotainment systems– Home automation systems– Home appliances

• More devices connected to the Internet • New concept of IoT Internet of

People

• 1,544 IoT startups, 47 countries and $27 billion in funding (Venture Scanner)

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http://www.zdnet.com/article/enterprise-iot-in-2017-the-state-of-play/

IoT Definition

• The exact definition of IoT is still in the forming process and it is subject to different perspectives

• In general:– Billions of devices attached to the internet

– Devices able to collect and exchange data

– Using nodes, sensors and controllers

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IoT Definition

• The words Internet and Things mean an interconnected world-wide network based on:

1. Sensory

2. Communication

3. Networking

4. Information processing technologies

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Internet of Things (IoT)

Things-connected network

Wirelessly connected via smart sensors

Interact without human intervention

Development of IoT involves advancement in multiple areas such as

Infrastructure

Communications

Interfaces

Protocols and Standards

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IoT Device

• Device in IoT is an internet connected smart device– Usually aimed to perform a

particular task• Ex: Monitor temperature, humidity,

record video, etc.

– Capable of gathering data

– Able to transmit data to a remote location

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The Smartphone Example

• For an smartphone, its many sensors, its internet connectivity and its access to data have turned it into another thing (not a phone anymore):

– Locate where you are

– Where you are heading

– Listen to environment (OK Google, Hey Siri)

– Capture images and video

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IoT Goals

Improve quality of life

Provide benefits to business

Change the way we live, work and play

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IoT Markets

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IoT Markets

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IoT Market Forecast

• Since 2008, internet-connected things have outnumbered the world’s human population

• 8.4 billion networked things were used in 2017

– 31% increase compared to 2016

• European commission estimates 26 billion of things will be connected by 2020

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IoT Market Forecast

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IoT Market Forecast

• IHS Markit predicts the global volume of IoT devices will quadruple in 2030.

– 27 billion for 2017

– 125 billion for 2030

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IoT Devices Communication

IoT devices do not simply respond to a stimulus (sensing) or command

IoT devices produce information that can be

distributed through digital networks for analysis and

interpretation

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Internet of Things (IoT)

• IoT applications use large arrays of sensors collecting data transmitted to a cloud-based computing resource

• Analytics software running on cloud computers reduces the huge volumes of generated data into

– Actionable information for users

– Commands to actuators back out in the field

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IoT Devices Communication

In general, the communication focus is between human beings

• Producing messages

• Circulating messages

• Interpreting messages

Now things can be networked and equipped with sensors

• Allowing them to detect and record information about their environment

• Things can now also create data about the world and circulate it

communication: Human to human

Human to machine

Machine to human

Machine to machine

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Embedded with Real-Time properties

Have strict timing and safety requirements

Require interaction between cyber and physical worlds

Used to monitor and control physical systems and processes in many domains

• Manned and unmanned vehicles

• Self-driving cars

• Process control systems in industrial plants

• Smart technologies (medical devices)

Increasing need to be monitored and control remotely

Real-Time Devices are being increasingly interconnected via Internet

Rise to the Real-Time Internet-of-things (RT-IoT).

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Real-Time Systems

Systems that are expected to guarantee a correct response within specified time constraints

• Tasks are expected to be completed before their predetermined deadlines

Missing a deadline might be as negative as the incorrect output from the computation

• Leading to catastrophic consequences for certain applications

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Real-Time Systems Deadlines

Hard Real-Time Systems

• Require deterministic guarantee to meet all deadlines for every instance

• Failure to meet even a single deadline can be catastrophic

Soft Real-Rime Systems

• Allow for a statistical bound on the number of deadline misses

• Deadline misses are neither desirable, but are not fatal

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Real-Time IoT

Wide inner-connected network

• Nodes can be connected and controlled remotely

Any problem preventing from the normal operation could

result in

• Damage to the system

• Damage to the environment

• Pose a threat to human safety

Many RT-IoT devices will

• Have severely limited resources

• Require control tasks to complete within a few milliseconds

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RT-IoT Communication QoSConventional RTS

• Several independently operating nodes with limited communication capabilities

RT-IoT

• Cyber-physical nodes communicating over closed industrial communication networks and also connected via the Internet

Examples:

• An autonomous vehicle → 1 Gigabytes/s

• U.S. Smart Grid → 1000 Petabytes/year

Most real-time applications would need to trigger events based on

specific data conditions

A real-time communication channel with guaranteed QoS is necessary to

support such applications

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RT-IoT Heterogeneous Comm. Traffic

RT-IoT often include traffic flows with mixed criticality

• Mix criticality → varying degrees of timing requirements

• Control commands for avionics or automotive

• Security systems in home automation

High priority/criticality traffic

• Navigation systems in aircraft

• Traffic of home automation equipment and appliances

Medium criticality traffic

• Multimedia flows in aircraft

• Notification messages from smart appliancesLow priority traffic

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Real-Time Tasks Model

Real-Time scheduling strategy or scheduler

Guarantee successful execution Maximize system predictability

Real-time Systems

Collections of tasks that have specific timing and resource constraints

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Real-Time Scheduler

Decides what task to execute next

• When faced with a choice in the execution of a set of concurrent tasks

Decides the assignment of resources to each task

• At any specific time, the amount of CPU time, memory, etc.

Static Decisions

Dynamic Decisions

• Fixed-priority schedule → Rate Monotonic Scheduling (RMS)

• Dynamic-priority schedule →Earliest Deadline First (EDF)

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Real-Time Tasks Model

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• RT-IoT nodes are often designed based on the Liu&Layland (1972) model:– Task set , with tasks i (periodic or sporadic)– Ci = Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET)– Ti = Period or minimum inter-arrival time– Di = Deadline, with Di Ti

• Schedulability tests are used to determine if all tasks in the system meet their respective deadlines. – If so → the task set is ‘schedulable’ and the system is safe

Properties of Majority RT-IoT Nodes

Implemented as a system of

periodic/sporadic tasks

Stringent timing requirements

Worst-case bounds are known for all

loops

No dynamically loaded or self

modified codes

Recursion is either not used or

statically bounded

Memory and processing power

is often limited

Communication flows with mixed timing criticality

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Security as a Design Priority for RT-IoT

Internet connection as

remote monitoring control

Use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)

components

Standardized communication

protocols

High value of RT-IoT systems to

adversaries

• Denial-of-service (DoS)

• Worms (stuxnet)

• Attacks on vehicles and medical devices

Multiple threats

seen

• Loss or injury to humans

• Negative impacts on the system and environment

Successful attacks can

have catastrophic

results

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Security as a Design Priority for RT-IoT

Internet connection as

remote monitoring control

Use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)

components

Standardized communication

protocols

High value of RT-IoT systems to

adversaries

• Denial-of-service (DoS)

• Worms (stuxnet)

• Attacks on vehicles and medical devices

Multiple threats

seen

• Loss or injury to humans

• Negative impacts on the system and environment

Successful attacks can

have catastrophic

results

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Enabling security in RT-IoT is often more challenging than generic IoT due to additional real-time constraints imposed

by real-time-enabled systems.

Security Threats for RT-IoT Systems

• Use a task to manipulate sensor inputs and actuator commandsIntegrity Violation with

Malicious Code Injection

• Manipulates unexpected channels to acquire useful information from the victim RT-IoT determinismSide-Channel Attacks

• Internet is an insecure communication medium and introduces a variety of vulnerabilities → Cryptography not suitable

Attacks on Communication Channels

• Attacker take control of the real-time task(s) and perform system-level resource exhaustion RT-IoT are resource constrained

Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks

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Securing RT-IoT

Security with hardware support

Use a simpler trusted core to monitor properties of exposed core or entity → Based on deterministic scheduling properties of the system

Performed a deterministic periodic reboot → use a fresh image

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Securing RT-IoTSecurity without hardware modifications

Flush shared cache when the system is transitioning from a high security task (Based on user-defined security levels for each task). For side-channel attacks

Transforming security requirements into constraints on scheduling algorithms (flush task)

Randomize task schedule → Reduce the deterministic nature of periodic RT-IoT applications

Usage of communication principles of software-defined networking (SDN) → Give tasks control on routing

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Conclusions

• As IoT devices are becoming popular, the need for securing such devices is increasing even more

• Real-time and IoT worlds are closely connected and will become inseparable in the near future

• It is necessary to study real-time security and bridge missing gaps in the current IoT context

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Further Reading

• Li, Shancang, Li Da Xu, and Shanshan Zhao. "The internet of things: a survey." Information Systems Frontiers 17.2 (2015): 243-259.

• Kim, J.E., Abdelzaher, T., Sha, L., Bar-Noy, A., Hobbs, R. and Dron, W., 2016, August. On maximizing quality of information for the internet of things: a real-time scheduling perspective. In Embedded and Real-Time Computing Systems and Applications (RTCSA), 2016 IEEE 22nd International Conference on (pp. 202-211). IEEE.

• Chen, Chien-Ying, Monowar Hasan, and Sibin Mohan. "Securing real-time internet-of-things." Sensors 18, no. 12 (2018): 4356.

• Bunz, Mercedes, and Graham Meikle. The Internet of things. John Wiley & Sons, 2017.

• Nordrum, Amy. "Popular internet of things forecast of 50 billion devices by 2020 is outdated." IEEE spectrum 18 (2016).

• Lee, In, and Kyoochun Lee. "The Internet of Things (IoT): Applications, investments, and challenges for enterprises." Business Horizons 58, no. 4 (2015): 431-440.

• Ng, Irene CL, and Susan YL Wakenshaw. "The Internet-of-Things: Review and research directions." International Journal of Research in Marketing 34, no. 1 (2017): 3-21.

• Tang, Chia-Pei, Tony Cheng-Kui Huang, and Szu-Ting Wang. "The impact of Internet of things implementation on firm performance." Telematics and Informatics 35, no. 7 (2018): 2038-2053.

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