IP for smart objects - Overview, technologies and solutions

Several years ago, the ability of Internet Protocol (IP) to offer a single communications interface to a single network spanning multiple physical media created the Internet revolution, gradually reducing the spectrum of non-IP protocols to niche markets.

The same paradigm shift is taking place in the fieldbus market, with IP/6LoWPAN protocols gradually replacing dedicated fieldbus protocols, massively reducing the costs of deploying and using these networks.

In this article, we will describe the technological breakthrough introduced by these new communicating objects in terms of energy, maintenance, hardware, cost and the number of objects to be deployed. We will then present the technologies and standard protocols developed in this context, and in particular the advantages of using the IP protocol to create networks of intelligent, autonomous objects covering a very broad spectrum of applications. Finally, we will present a commercial solution developed by Watteco, based on a use case: building instrumentation.