ISO/IEC 30141:2024

Internet of Things (IoT) - Reference architecture

This document provides a standardized IoT Reference Architecture using a common vocabulary, reusable designs and industry best practices. It uses a top down approach, beginning with collecting the most important characteristics of IoT, abstracting those into a foundational view, then providing five more views including a construction view with a set of architecture and design patterns for building IoT systems. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2018. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition: 1. conformance with ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022; 2. improved usability; 3. implementation pattern support.

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General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 26-Aug-2024
• ICS: 35.020 - Information technology (IT) in general
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 41 - Internet of things and digital twin
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 41 - Internet of things and digital twin
• Current Stage: 9092 - International Standard to be revised
• Start Date: 01-Jul-2025
• Completion Date: 30-Oct-2025

Relations

• Revises: ISO/IEC 30141:2018/Cor 1:2020 - Internet of Things (loT) - Reference Architecture - Technical Corrigendum 1
• Effective Date: 13-Jan-2024
• Revises: ISO/IEC 30141:2018 - Internet of Things (IoT) - Reference Architecture
• Effective Date: 13-Jan-2024

Overview

ISO/IEC 30141:2024 - Internet of Things (IoT) - Reference architecture defines a standardized IoT Reference Architecture that provides a common vocabulary, reusable designs and industry best practices. The second edition (2024) cancels and replaces the 2018 edition and constitutes a technical revision with improved usability, implementation pattern support and conformance to ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022. The standard uses a top‑down approach: it captures core IoT characteristics, presents a foundational view, then delivers five additional viewpoints including a construction view with architecture and design patterns for building IoT systems.

Key topics and technical scope

• Viewpoints and views: foundational, business, usage, functional, trustworthiness, and construction - each mapped to stakeholders and concerns.
• Foundational model: defines relationships among IoT component, IoT system and IoT environment and establishes a common vocabulary.
• Construction view & patterns: architecture and design patterns (including an IoT component pattern and additional patterns in Annex A such as RAMI 4.0, dynamic IoT system, enterprise system and networking patterns).
• Trustworthiness viewpoint: addresses security, privacy, reliability and other trustworthiness concerns with a legend and modeling guidance.
• Functional & usage views: external-facing functions, internal function classes and interactions to support application design and integration.
• Guidance on architecture description: informative annex (Annex B) aligns the IoT RA with ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 (architecture description practices, viewpoints, correspondences).
• IoT characteristics: Annex C lists system characteristics important in context - e.g., legacy support, network connectivity, unique identification, auto‑configuration, discoverability, manageability, real‑time capability, data characteristics (volume/velocity/veracity/variety) and PII protection.

Practical applications & who should use it

• Enterprise and solution architects designing interoperable IoT systems and reference solutions.
• System integrators and developers implementing architecture patterns and component capabilities.
• Product managers and vendors aligning IoT product roadmaps with standardized models.
• Security/privacy engineers and trustworthiness assessors using the trustworthiness viewpoint to evaluate risk and compliance.
• Policy makers, certification bodies and researchers needing a common vocabulary and architecture baseline for assessment, procurement or study.

Related standards & keywords

• Related: ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 (architecture description).
• SEO keywords: IoT reference architecture, ISO/IEC 30141:2024, Internet of Things architecture, architecture patterns, IoT system design, trustworthiness, RAMI 4.0, IoT implementation patterns.

Standards Content (Sample)

ISO/IEC 30141
Edition 2.0 2024-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
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Internet of things (IoT) – Reference architecture

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ISO/IEC 30141
Edition 2.0 2024-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Internet of things (IoT) – Reference architecture

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 35.020 ISBN 978-2-8322-9193-1

– 2 – ISO/IEC 30141:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 5
INTRODUCTION . 7
0.1 General . 7
0.2 About Internet of Things (IoT) . 7
0.3 IoT sources of information. 7
0.4 General principles of a reference architecture . 8
1 Scope . 9
2 Normative references . 9
3 Terms and definitions . 9
4 Abbreviated terms . 9
5 IoT RA context . 10
5.1 Overview. 10
5.2 Stakeholders and concerns . 11
6 IoT RA viewpoints and views . 12
6.1 Overview. 12
6.2 Foundational IoT viewpoint and views . 13
6.2.1 Foundational IoT viewpoint . 13
6.2.2 Foundational IoT view . 13
6.3 Business viewpoint and view . 19
6.3.1 Business viewpoint . 19
6.3.2 Business view . 19
6.4 Usage viewpoint and view . 21
6.4.1 Usage viewpoint . 21
6.4.2 Usage view . 21
6.5 Functional viewpoint and view . 22
6.5.1 Functional viewpoint . 22
6.5.2 Functional view . 23
6.6 Trustworthiness viewpoint and view . 25
6.6.1 Trustworthiness viewpoint . 25
6.6.2 Trustworthiness view . 26
6.7 Construction viewpoint and views . 29
6.7.1 Construction viewpoint . 29
6.7.2 Construction view . 31
6.7.3 IoT component pattern . 32
Annex A (normative) Additional IoT construction patterns . 38
A.1 General . 38
A.2 Reference Architecture Model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0) pattern . 38
A.3 Dynamic IoT system pattern . 40
A.4 IoT enterprise system pattern. 43
A.5 IoT enterprise networking pattern . 45
A.6 IoT enterprise usage pattern . 47
Annex B (informative) Guidance on the use of ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 . 53
B.1 Overview. 53
B.2 Systems and architectures . 53
B.3 Elements in ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 used in ISO/IEC 30141 IoT reference
architecture description . 53

B.3.1 Overview . 53
B.3.2 Stakeholders, perspective, and concerns . 54
B.4 Viewpoints, model kinds, legends, correspondences, and correspondence
methods . 55
B.5 Views and models . 55
B.6 Correspondences . 55
Annex C (informative) Characteristics for IoT systems in particular contexts . 56
C.1 Common characteristics . 56
C.1.1 Legacy support . 56
C.1.2 Network connectivity . 56
C.1.3 Unique identification . 56
C.1.4 Well-defined components. 57
C.1.5 Auto-configuration . 57
C.1.6 Content-awareness . 57
C.1.7 Context-awareness . 57
C.1.8 Discoverability . 57
C.1.9 Manageability . 58
C.1.10 Network management and operation . 58
C.1.11 Real-time capability . 58
C.1.12 Self-description . 59
C.1.13 Service subscription . 59
C.2 Characteristics related to trustworthiness . 59
C.2.1 Data characteristics – volume, velocity, veracity, variability, and variety . 59
C.2.2 Protection of personally identifiable information (PII) . 60
C.2.3 Flexibility . 60
Bibliography . 61

Figure 1 – Using the IoT RA standard . 8
Figure 2 – Relationship between IoT component, IoT system and IoT environment . 14
Figure 3 – Example of IoT environment . 16
Figure 4 – External facing functions . 21
Figure 5 – Internal model of abstract function classes . 23
Figure 6 – Legend used in the trustworthiness view . 26
Figure 7 – IoT architecture construction view . 31
Figure 8 – Capabilities of an IoT component . 32
Figure A.1 – RAMI 4.0 . 39
Figure A.2 – DSC components . 41
Figure A.3 – Message flow in DSC . 42
Figure A.4 – Home smart air cleaning service . 42
Figure A.5 – Example system deployment model . 43
Figure A.6 – Networking model . 45
Figure A.7 – Roles present when the system is in use . 48
Figure A.8 – IoT service provider subroles and activities . 48
Figure A.9 – IoT service developer subroles and activities . 49
Figure A.10 – IoT subroles and activities . 50
Figure A.11 – Activities of device and application development . 50

– 4 – ISO/IEC 30141:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
Figure A.12 – Using device data for security-related analytics and operations. . 51
Figure B.1 – Conceptual model of an architecture description . 54

Table 1 – List of viewpoints, stakeholders, and concerns . 11
Table 2 – Foundational IoT viewpoint . 13
Table 3 – Business viewpoint . 19
Table 4 – Usage viewpoint . 21
Table 5 – Functional viewpoint . 23
Table 6 – Trustworthiness viewpoint . 26
Table 7 – Construction viewpoint . 30
Table 8 – Construction pattern legend . 30
Table 9 – IoT component pattern . 32
Table 10 – Additional information on IoT component capabilities . 33
Table 11 – Key capability transformations . 35
Table 12 – IoT system pattern . 36
Table A.1 – RAMI 4.0 pattern . 38
Table A.2 – Dynamic IoT system pattern . 40
Table A.3 – IoT enterprise system pattern . 43
Table A.4 – IoT enterprise networking system . 45
Table A.5 – IoT enterprise usage pattern . 47
Table A.6 – Overview of activities and roles . 51
Table A.7 – Overview of enterprise activities and roles . 52

INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) –
REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE
FOREWORD
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ISO/IEC 30141 has been prepared by subcommittee 41: Internet of Things and Digital Twin, of
ISO/IEC joint technical committee 1: Information technology. It is an International Standard.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2018. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) conformance with ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022;
b) improved usability;
c) implementation pattern support.

– 6 – ISO/IEC 30141:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
JTC1-SC41/417/FDIS JTC1-SC41/431/RVD

Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, and the ISO/IEC Directives, JTC 1 Supplement
available at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs and www.iso.org/directives.

IMPORTANT – The "colour inside" logo on the cover page of this document indicates
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INTRODUCTION
0.1 General
This document is the second edition of the Internet of Things reference architecture (IoT RA).
This document is in conformance with ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 requirements on architecture
descriptions that are described in Annex B except for aspects, perspectives, decisions and
rationale.
The IoT RA addresses systems that:
• use technology for sensing and operating on physical world entities;
• have components that interact through a digital network.
The IoT RA deals with related issues, like trustworthiness functions regarding both the physical
and digital worlds.
This document can be used as a generic normative part of IoT domain-specific reference
architectures (DSRAs). IoT DSRAs are in conformance with ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022
requirements on architecture descriptions and enable consistency and alignment with other
reference architectures within ISO/IEC JTC 1.
0.2 About Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT has broad implications in industry and society today and is likely to continue to have an
impact on many aspects of our lives for many years to come. Various IoT applications and
services have adopted IoT techniques to provide capabilities that were not possible earlier. IoT
is one of the most dynamic areas of information and communication technologies.
Fundamental to IoT are devices that interact with the physical world. Sensors collect the
information about the physical world, while actuators can act upon the physical world. These
field devices are connected to the digital world through network connections. Both sensors and
actuators can be in many forms such as thermometers, accelerometers, video cameras,
microphones, relays, heaters or industrial equipment for manufacturing or process control.
IoT is the base for new business models or offerings and new working methods in industry and
in the public sector. IoT is an essential enabler for other computing areas such as digital twins,
artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, data analysis and more. Many application areas
called "smart xxx" such as smart grid, smart cities, and even smart cars use IoT as an important
technology capability.
IoT can be combined with other technologies to address complex requirements. For example,
IoT can leverage cloud computing, including private cloud, public cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-
cloud, for resource provisioning and management. IoT can benefit from machine learning and
big data for the analysis of sensor data to enable rapid decisions for improved control and
efficiency. IoT with distributed ledger technology can ensure traceability in applications. IoT can
take advantage of edge computing to distribute computing resources near the convergence of
information technology and operational technology, where they are needed most. The IoT area
continues to grow rapidly, and new IoT application areas continue to be found and invented.
This document can serve these new technology and application areas.
0.3 IoT sources of information
For a given application field and purpose, the many IoT standards, guidelines, and initiatives in
existence today work well on their own and are used by various IoT stakeholders. As a result,
heterogeneity is a prominent aspect of IoT. However, support for the combination and
interaction of these heterogeneous resources to enable interoperability and convergence
between IoT standards and guidelines is necessary.

– 8 – ISO/IEC 30141:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
Stakeholder decisions about both a foundation for long-term investments and durable protection
of current cornerstones is more difficult because of uncertainty about resource compatibility.
This document serves as a foundation for creating interoperability and alignment between IoT
initiatives. The aim of this document is to bring different views together.
0.4 General principles of a reference architecture
This document is positioned as a reference architecture for IoT systems. It utilizes the terms,
definitions, and relationships for best practices in architecture descriptions as outlined in
ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 to:
• establish vocabulary, principles, guidance; and
• provide a description of IoT principles, capabilities, and interactions with the physical and
digital worlds.
One of the primary purposes of the IoT RA is to support architects that want to design
architectures or reference architectures for IoT systems. Normative parts of the IoT RA can
then be included in an architecture closer to the realization of IoT systems.
Figure 1 shows how this document has been specified and how it will be used.
– This document conforms to ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 requirements for architecture
descriptions [1] and uses guidelines from the "Best practices and guidelines for RA
standards" standing document [2].
– Users of this document apply it to specify an IoT architecture that guides the implementation
of an IoT system.
Figure 1 – Using the IoT RA standard

___________
Numbers in square brackets refer to the Bibliography.

INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) –
REFERENCE ARCHITECTURE
1 Scope
This document specifies an Internet of Things (IoT) reference architecture (IoT RA). The IoT
RA is a generalization of existing practice including the distinguishing characteristics of IoT
systems and other fundamental characteristics exhibited by IoT systems. The IoT RA addresses
stakeholder concerns related to the business value of IoT systems. The IoT RA also addresses
the interactions between the IoT system, the users, and the physical environment.
Implementation of IoT systems is also addressed in this document. Among the characteristics
specified in the IoT RA are abstract functions within IoT systems and a variety of structures that
are used to construct IoT systems.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any
amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 20924, Internet of Things (IoT) and digital twin – Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 20924 apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
• IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org
4 Abbreviated terms
AI artificial intelligence
API application programming interface
ASD application and service domain
BSS business support systems
CM conceptual model
CPS cyber physical system
CPO chief privacy officer
DPO data protection officer
DSC dynamic service composition
DSRA domain specific reference architecture
ETL extract, transform, load
HMI human machine interface
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
ICT information and communication technologies

– 10 – ISO/IEC 30141:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
IoT Internet of Things
IT information technology
LAN local area network
LoB line of business
OMD operation and management domain
OSS operational support systems
OT operational technology
PED physical entity domain
PII personally identifiable information
RA reference architecture
RAID resource access and interchange domain
SCD sensing and controlling domain
5 IoT RA context
5.1 Overview
This document specifies a reference architecture for the Internet of Things using the
ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 requirements for architecture descriptions. While this document is
intended to be used in many situations and by many different stakeholders, the focus is on the
needs of architecture developers of an IoT system description, their perspectives, concerns,
and the architecture views they most likely encounter. In particular, it focuses on those involved
in creating a specific IoT reference or solution architecture that depends on IoT.
This document is interesting and educational for anyone with interest in IoT. However, the
document is of special interest for those people looking to:
– harmonize standards or reference architectures of other IT and OT domains with this generic
IoT RA;
– develop either IoT software, or IoT hardware, or both;
– provide services involving IoT;
– procure or implement IoT systems;
– integrate IoT with other IT technology.
For all the interests mentioned above, applying parts of this document to develop or implement
IoT domain-specific architecture (DSRA) is a useful approach. These descriptions can be either
standalone or integrated with other IoT related architecture descriptions.
Further, depending on the interest, different sections of the document have more relevancy.
While some parts provide an overview, some parts provide more information regarding different
aspects of IoT.
This document can also be used as normative reference in a DSRA. The document can then
serve as a base for the IoT part of that DSRA, leaving application concerns, use cases and so
forth to the DSRA. The DSRA can specify how the IoT RA is intended to be used for the specific
domain. A DSRA can also specify conformance to parts of this document.
This document conforms to ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 requirements on architecture
descriptions [1], which is described in Annex B. This ensures that the IoT RA aligns with other
RAs that conform to ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 requirements on architecture descriptions. The
IoT RA is intended to be used with one or more architecture description frameworks
(in accordance with ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022) to create an architecture description for a
system of interest.
ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 provides terms, definitions, and relationships for best practices in
architecture descriptions of the architecture of a system of interest. Consequently, all
conforming architecture descriptions can be interpreted in a consistent way. Conformance to
ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2022 requirements for architecture descriptions makes this document a
vital part of a cohesive family of standards, including those standards dealing with
interoperability.
5.2 Stakeholders and concerns
Table 1 shows a list of viewpoints, stakeholders, and concerns.
Table 1 – List of viewpoints, stakeholders, and concerns
Viewpoint Stakeholders Concerns
Foundational IoT – Architect What is IoT?
viewpoint
– Project manager What are the essential characteristics of IoT systems?
– Programme What is new (and different) about the concept of IoT?
manager
Is a given system or component an IoT system or component?
– Standards expert
What are the implications of the concept of IoT?
– People concerned
with the
fundamentals of
IoT
– Domain experts
– Business manager
– System owner
Business – Business manager How to leverage the various capabilities of an IoT system to
viewpoint provide value for a business?
– System owner
How to use IoT for innovative new business models?
– Architect
How do characteristics of an IoT system influence business and
system owner?
Usage viewpoint – System architect How do users (both human and digital) interact with the IoT
system?
– Project manager
How does the IoT system interact with the physical entity of
interest?
Functional – Architect What are the types of abstract functions that need to be
viewpoint implemented in an IoT system?
– Project manager
– Programme
manager
– IoT standards
expert
– Business manager
– System owner
Trustworthiness – System architect How to design an IoT system with a level of confidence that meets
viewpoint trustworthiness goals.
– Security engineer
How to assure the implemented system meets design goals.
– Security manager
– Privacy manager
– Project manager
– Business manager
Construction – System architect What types of design are useful when creating an IoT system to
viewpoint
meet a given set of requirements?
– Project manager
What types of design are useful when creating an IoT component
– System designer
to meet a given set of requirements?

– 12 – ISO/IEC 30141:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
6 IoT RA viewpoints and views
6.1 Overview
The essence of an architecture description lies in the architecture views that it provides. Each
view is governed by a corresponding viewpoint. The developers and professional practitioners
who are charged with elaboration of the architecture description can adopt the architecture
views provided in this document. The different architecture views result from modelling and
narrative descriptive activities of the architecting effort.
An architecture viewpoint states relevant information focusing on a particular topic. This
information is a collection of concerns, often expressed in use cases, stakeholders provide
about the constructed artefacts that they believe are important to the topic. Viewpoints specify
the architecture view or views it governs. The architecture viewpoint also identifies modelling
or narrative paradigms for generating the architecture view or views.
This document specifies six architecture views and their governing viewpoints:
– an IoT foundational viewpoint in 6.2;
– a business viewpoint in 6.3;
– a usage viewpoint in 6.4;
– a functional viewpoint in 6.5;
– a trustworthiness viewpoint in 6.6;
– a construction viewpoint in 6.7.
Subclause 6.2 presents the foundational IoT viewpoint and the corresponding view which
frames the concerns related to the essential characteristics of IoT. The viewpoint addresses
concerns related to the fundamental aspects of IoT by specifying the foundational building
blocks of IoT enabled systems as architecture views. These views represent the different
concepts related to IoT (for example: principles, devices, and connectivity).
Subclause 6.3 presents the business viewpoint and the corresponding view.
Subclause 6.4 presents the usage viewpoint and the corresponding view.
Subclause 6.5 presents the functional viewpoint and the corresponding functional views that
describe the IoT reference architecture from the perspective of key functions. The viewpoint
addresses concerns related to the fundamental functional aspects of IoT by specifying the
foundational building blocks of IoT enabled systems as architecture views. These views
represent the functional capabilities of IoT related data, management, communication,
interfaces, etc.
Subclause 6.6 presents the trustworthiness viewpoint and provides means for implementing a
trust model to consider when creating an IoT product or solution.
Subclause 6.7 presents the construction viewpoint and the corresponding construction views
that describe the IoT reference architecture from the perspective of implementation
architectures. The viewpoint addresses concerns related to the fundamental implementation
aspects of IoT by specifying the different patterns as architecture views. Examples of patterns
described in this document include the IoT component capability, the RAMI4.0, the IoT user,
the IoT enterprise system, the enterprise networking, and the IoT enterprise usage patterns.

6.2 Foundational IoT viewpoint and views
6.2.1 Foundational IoT viewpoint
The foundational IoT viewpoint is essential to the IoT domain. It frames multiple concerns of
several stakeholders, described below. The foundational IoT viewpoint is described in Table 2.
Table 2 – Foundational IoT viewpoint
Viewpoint name Foundational IoT
Overview Framing of the concerns related to the essential characteristics of IoT
Known typical stakeholders – Architect
– Project manager
– Programme manager
– Standards expert
– People concerned with the fundamentals of IoT
– Domain experts
– Business managers
– System owners
Concerns – What is IoT?
– What are the essential characteristics of IoT systems?
– What is new (and different) about the concept of IoT?
– Is a given system or component an IoT system or component?
– What are the implications of the concept of IoT?
Viewpoint Model kinds Interoperability model
specification
Component model
Legends The foundational IoT view provides text defining the essential
characteristics of IoT, text describing the concepts and relationships
between an IoT component, IoT system, and IoT environment.
View methods NA
Correspondence
NA
methods
References NA
6.2.2 Foundational IoT view
6.2.2.1 Description of IoT systems
ISO/IEC 20924 [3] defines IoT as an "infrastructure of interconnected entities, people, systems
and information resources together with services which processes and reacts to information
from the physical world and virtual world".
In practical terms, this IoT definition can be distilled down to two essential characteristics of IoT
systems.
a) An IoT system is composed of components connected through a many-to-many digital
network. The network capabilities can be based on different options such as using a many-
to-many relationship or others and using approaches such as TCP/IP or alternatives.
b) At least one of those system components interacts with the physical world through either
sensing or actuating.
– 14 – ISO/IEC 30141:2024 © ISO/IEC 2024
The interaction with the physical world includes:
– Sensing: a sensing capability (provided by a sensor) offers ability to provide observations
of an aspect of the physical world as measurement data. Information from sensor
observations can be provided to other IoT components through the network interface of the
component for processing and storage.
EXAMPLE 1 Temperature sensing (temperature measurement capability), computerized tomography (CT)
scans (radiographic imaging), spatial sensing (accelerometers, gyroscopes), optical sensing, and audio sensing.
– Actuating: an actuating capability, provided by an actuator, offers the ability to change the
physical world. Such change is based on information that is given as input to the component.
EXAMPLE 2 Heating coils (heating capability), electric shock delivery (cardiac pacing), electronic door locks
(lock/unlock capability), unmanned aerial vehicle operation (remote control), servo motors (motion/movement
capability), and robotic arms (complex motion/movement capability).
6.2.2.2 IoT system concepts
6.2.2.2.1 General
IoT can be broken down into three important concepts (Figure 2):
– the IoT environment (containing all the components, systems, and related infrastructure);
– the IoT system that provides benefit to the stakeholders;
– the IoT components that interact together to form the IoT system.

Figure 2 – Relationship between IoT component, IoT system and IoT environment
6.2.2.2.2 IoT components
IoT components are the basic building blocks of IoT systems. IoT components interact with
other IoT components to form a system and achieve one or more goals. Each IoT component
provides some function that is necessary within the system so it can achieve its goal or goals.
All IoT components have at least one network interface that provides the ability to participate
in a many-to-many network. Nevertheless, a given IoT component does not need to
communicate with more than one other IoT component in a given system (e.g. assigning and
limiting communication between two static IPs). Most IoT components also have an application
interface that provides the capacity for application-level interactions between IoT components.

Each IoT component offers one or more IoT capabilities for use by other IoT components.
Network interfaces and sensing are two examples of IoT capabilities.
6.2.2.2.3 IoT systems
A system, which is a combination of interacting elements organized to achieve one or more
stated purposes, is considered an IoT system when it is composed of networked IoT
components. The IoT system also interacts with a physical entity of interest through a sensor
or an actuator within the IoT components. IoT systems differ from conventional IT systems in
their ability to directly interact with the physical world.
IoT systems range from the very simple, such as an Internet-enabled thermometer, to the
extremely complex, such as a city management system, and everything in between. IoT
components can be assembled into many different systems. Also, a single IoT component can
have the ability to be part of more than one system at a time. An IoT system can also act as an
IoT component within another IoT system, if it has a network interface that allows it to be used
that way. An IoT system is not necessarily constructed in a particular manner.
The quality of "goodness" is how well requirements of stakeholders are met. Many of the
characteristics of an IoT system have lower or higher importance depending on the specific use
cases and therefore indirectly stakeholder concerns.
An IoT system is not required to meet specific security, privacy, reliability, cost, or functional
requirements to be considered an IoT system. Even if these criteria are not met it does not stop
being an IoT system. However, if the IoT system cannot meet the use case requirements, it
might not be a "good" IoT system for a specific use case. In other words, "goodness" is purely
in the eyes of the user.
6.2.2.2.4 IoT environments
A digital IoT environment includes:
– the set of IoT components available to be composed into IoT systems;
– the networks connecting the components;
– any associated services that provide the mechanisms for discovery, composition, and
orchestration.
Although an IoT environment contains the IoT components that can be used to create IoT
systems, it does not necessarily contain any functioning IoT systems. This can be the case if
no IoT components have been instructed to interact as a system. The opposite is also true. An
IoT environment can be used to create non-IoT systems (conventional IT systems) by excluding
IoT components that have sensing or actuating capabilities. In its current state, the Internet can
be considered an IoT environment.
For system owners and business managers, it is often relevant to consider the IoT environment
as a part of the overall IT environment of an organization.
IoT systems can be components of other IoT systems. IoT systems can also be components of
other IT systems. IT systems can be (and often are) com
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