The Internet of Things

　　How the Next Evolution of the Internet Is Changing Everything

　　The Internet of Things （IoT）， sometimes referred to as the Internet of Objects， will change everything—including ourselves. This may seem like a bold statement， but consider the impact the Internet already has had on education， communication， business， science， government， and humanity. Clearly， the Internet is one of the most important and powerful creations in all of human history.

　　Now consider that IoT represents the next evolution of the Internet， taking a huge leap in its ability to gather， analyze， and distribute data that we can turn into information， knowledge， and， ultimately， wisdom. In this context， IoT becomes immensely important.

　　Already， IoT projects are under way that promise to close the gap between poor and rich， improve distribution of the world’s resources to those who need them most， and help us understand our planet so we can be more proactive and less reactive. Even so， several barriers exist that threaten to slow IoT development， including the transition to IPv6， having a common set of standards， and developing energy sources for millions—even billions—of minute sensors.

　　However， as businesses， governments， standards bodies， and academia work together to solve these challenges， IoT will continue to progress. The goal of this paper， therefore， is to educate you in plain and simple terms so you can be well versed in IoT and understand its potential to change everything we know to be true today.

　　IoT Today

　　As with many new concepts， IoT’s roots can be traced back to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT）， from work at the Auto-ID Center. Founded in 1999， this group was working in the field of networked radio frequency identification （RFID） and emerging sensing technologies. The labs consisted of seven research universities located across four continents. These institutions were chosen by the Auto-ID Center to design the architecture for IoT.1

　　Before we talk about the current state of IoT， it is important to agree on a definition. According to the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group （IBSG）， IoT is simply the point in time when more “things or objects” were connected to the Internet than people.2

　　In 2003， there were approximately 6.3 billion people living on the planet and 500 million devices connected to the Internet.3 By dividing the number of connected devices by the world population， we find that there was less than one （0.08） device for every person. Based on Cisco IBSG’s definition， IoT didn’t yet exist in 2003 because the number of connected things was relatively small given that ubiquitous devices such as smartphones were just being introduced. For example， Steve Jobs， Apple’s CEO， didn’t unveil the iPhone until January 9， 2007 at the Macworld conference.4

　　Cisco IBSG ? 2011 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Page 2

　　White Paper

　　Explosive growth of smartphones and tablet PCs brought the number of devices connected to the Internet to 12.5 billion in 2010， while the world’s human population increased to 6.8 billion， making the number of connected devices per person more than 1 （1.84 to be exact） for the first time in history.5

　　Methodology

　　In January 2009， a team of researchers in China studied Internet routing data in six-month intervals， from December 2001 to December 2006. Similar to the properties of Moore’s Law， their findings showed that the Internet doubles in size every 5.32 years. Using this figure in combination with the number of devices connected to the Internet in 2003 （500 million， as determined by Forrester Research）， and the world population according to the U.S. Census Bureau， Cisco IBSG estimated the number of connected devices per person.6

　　Refining these numbers further， Cisco IBSG estimates IoT was “born” sometime between 2008 and 2009 （see Figure 1）。 Today， IoT is well under way， as initiatives such as Cisco’s Planetary Skin， smart grid， and intelligent vehicles continue to progress.7