The I-IoT data flow

In this section, we will introduce the whole flow of industrial data from the sensors to when they are processed in the cloud. We will look closer at data acquisition, data sources, the related protocols and the edge device to push the data into the cloud in Chapters 3, Industrial Data Flow and Devices and Chapter 4, Implementing the Industrial IoT Data Flow. We will then look at an overview of cloud architecture and the main components for the I-IoT in Chapter 7, Developing Industrial IoT and Architecture, and beyond.

Here, when explaining the I-IoT data flow, we have not mentioned cybersecurity. This is not because the topic is not pertinent or relevant. On the contrary, cyber-security is always a hot topic, especially in an industry in which availability and reliability of equipment is a must, and confidentiality and intellectual properties are increasingly more important. In addition, opening systems and devices isolated until now, and not designed to be linked to the internet, has put them under stress from the cyber-security perspective once their isolation is broken. For this reason, Chapter 5, Applying Cybersecurity, will be dedicated to discussing cyber-security in industrial control system (ICS) and intellectual property (IP) in the I-IoT.

The following diagram shows the I-IoT data flow from the sensors to the cloud: