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How an IoT Gateway Device Works: Understanding the Architecture

In our quest to understand IoT Gateway devices better, we requested our IoT Software Developers to shed some light on the technology architecture of the IoT Gateway.

Following are the excerpts from this conversation. If you are an IoT software or hardware developer or an IoT enthusiast, this blog can serve as a good starting point for understanding the various software/hardware modules of the IoT Gateway

Design of an IoT Gateway is driven by the ‘Custom Application’ [e.g – fleet management, asset tracking, industrial automation, connected car, infotainment & more]

As an IoT developer, based on the requirement of the application one needs to calibrate the following:

In reference to the below IoT gateway architecture diagram, let us try to understand the various modules or building blocks of the IoT Gateway Device.

IOT Gateway Architecture

IoT Gateway Hardware comprises of processor/microcontroller, IoT sensors, protection circuitry, connectivity modules (e.g Zigbee, Bluetooth, WiFi and more).

Type of hardware (processor/microcontroller), processing speed and memory space is decided based on the Operating System of the IoT Gateway device.

The end-user application also has a big say in the design of the IoT Hardware.

A small to a medium scale application can run on a microcontroller; however if the gateway is expected to do complex operations a processor is needed.

This will have a direct impact on the cost of the gateway device.

As an IoT Development partner or vendor, one should always design hardware components by considering performance, cost and efficiency.

Selection of the Operating system is also largely dependent on the IoT application.

If the gateway is to be designed for a simple to medium scale  application then a RTOS (Real Time Operating System) is used; however, if the gateway has to perform considerably complex operations then Linux is preferred

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