An Approach to the Application of the Internet of Things in Logistics

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology of the future that is being widely applied in business environment. Companies around the world are starting to apply IoT technologies to ensure the most efficient business possible. The importance of the application of this technology has been particularly evident in improving logistics processes. This paper describes IoT applications in processes such as supply chain management, i.e. control of transport and storage of goods and materials. Examples of smart solutions offered by IoT technology are presented. Various technologies and standards are used in the implementation of the IoT. The scientific community is increasingly researching new technologies such as NB-IoT and 5G, which provide an even greater potential for IoT development. Therefore, this paper shows a comparison of these technologies and explains how IoT devices work with them

PluralisMAC: a generic multi-MAC framework for heterogeneous, multiservice wireless networks, applied to smart containers

Developing energy-efficient MAC protocols for lightweight wireless systems has been a challenging task for decades because of the specific requirements of various applications and the varying environments in which wireless systems are deployed. Many MAC protocols for wireless networks have been proposed, often custom-made for a specific application. It is clear that one MAC does not fit all the requirements. So, how should a MAC layer deal with an application that has several modes (each with different requirements) or with the deployment of another application during the lifetime of the system? Especially in a mobile wireless system, like Smart Monitoring of Containers, we cannot know in advance the application state (empty container versus stuffed container). Dynamic switching between different energy-efficient MAC strategies is needed. Our architecture, called PluralisMAC, contains a generic multi-MAC framework and a generic neighbour monitoring and filtering framework. To validate the real-world feasibility of our architecture, we have implemented it in TinyOS and have done experiments on the TMote Sky nodes in the w-iLab.t testbed. Experimental results show that dynamic switching between MAC strategies is possible with minimal receive chain overhead, while meeting the various application requirements (reliability and low-energy consumption)