Living in the information society, we attach more importance to all kinds of information. We want to know more and more about the world around us. Tens years ago, the only source of information we were given was a preselected and processed content delivered by mass media or scientific publications, available in bookshops or libraries. In recent times, with the development of Internet, access to data and information has been considerably facilitated. We need only a computer (or recently a smartphone) to get information, which we are interested in instantly. For some time, with the development and significant decline of prices of various electronic components, more and more academic and scientific centers, companies and finally hobbyists, began to develop various proprietary projects that monitor various aspects of everyday life. In our living space smart meters (gas, electricity or water, which transmit information such as their condition or for charging fees), intelligent heating control systems and lighting are becoming increasingly popular in the building industry. This phenomenon was defined and named by Kevin Ashton as ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT).
The IoT concept assumes communication with all sorts of real world objects. These may be devices, vehicles, constructions, or objects of the natural environment, which have not previously transmitted information about their condition. By enabling remote monitoring, we have tools to analyze processes and influence their effectiveness and rationality. The Internet of Things is used in many different fields, such as environmental protection, farming and breeding, medicine, intelligent cities, logistics, industry, among other. One example may be monitoring of the performance parameters of an enterprise’s technical infrastructure. In particular, environmental sensors (eg. temperature, humidity, gas and dust concentrations), vibration sensors, acceleration, electromagnetic fields, and more can be used to monitor their correct, safe and efficient operation. Nowadays, the major problem faced by Internet of Things developers is the problem of wireless connectivity over long distances and at the same time low power consumption. Existing transmission techniques (eg. the popular IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac commonly known as WiFI), due to their high throughput (up to 1Gbps), are ideal for mobile computing and devices (like smartphones). There are also some restrictions, however the most significant are a relatively high power consumption and extremely limited range, rarely exceeding 100 m. One common solution that would be far less energy intensive is the IEEE 802.15.1 standard (commonly called Bluetooth). In its latest version, this standard enables data transmission at very low power consumption. This solution can be used in IoT devices, but only for a very limited range (not more than a dozen meters).
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