has finally reached the point where hand-held devices, home appliances, industrial machinery,

and even mundane physical objects can all inexpensively communicate, store information,

and perform significant computation – turning, in this way, dark data into useful data. That

is why the Internet of Things is believed to be the largest technology market ever.

The implications of this are very exciting, but the big question we now face is what kind

of application software will take advantage of these emerging hardware capabilities.

It is believed that soon there will be more connected things than people connected the

Internet. As communication between devices becomes more ubiquitous, we are already starting

to see simple, obvious applications. For example, replacing a TV remote with a smart phone is

definitely an improvement, but hardly benefits from the full power of a modern mobile processor.

In other markets, we have business applications that already handle complex workflows on bulky

workstations, looking for ways to use the wireless tablets and handsets that have become

so omnipresent in recent years. The fact is, nobody knows what the next big

applications will be, but we are clearly ready to start the transition. That's why we need

to start identifying and solving the new inherent challenges in a world of distributed, connected

computing and data storage. Distributed computing is certainly not a new discipline, but the

dynamic physical arrangement of "things", the diversity of platforms involved, and the

need for interoperability between different applications certainly add some interesting

new twists. For example, a laptop and a tablet in close

proximity might connect wireless through a WiFi access point, directly with Bluetooth,

or over the Internet using a cellular modem. These two devices should be able to recognize

each other and communicate, regardless of the transport layer and network topology involved.

Furthermore, when the laptop and tablet move out of proximity, they must be able to work

independently and ultimately combine the results of that work.

This is where an embedded database library like ITTIA DB SQL comes in, providing local

data management and data distribution capability to applications in a safe, efficient, and

secure way. The application simply opens a database file and uses SQL statements to store

and query whatever data it might possess. This gives applications intelligence because

they can analyze and distribute local data to make decisions autonomously. It is especially

important for applications that collect a large volume of data, which is then summarized

for other systems. When another "thing" with similarly structured

data comes into physical proximity, data discovery automatically synchronizes it with the local

database. This is very efficient because ITTIA DB SQL records changes in a replication log,

making it unnecessary to transmit the entire database contents. It also avoids overwriting

one copy of the data completely with the other. Conflicts may occur when the same record is

modified independently on both "things", but ITTIA DB SQL is able to detect these conflicts

and offer a variety of policies to resolve them.

Let's look at a practical example. Consider a "smart refrigerator" that is communicating

with a “smart pantry” in a “smart home” of the future. The refrigerator is able to

communicate intelligently with the pantry, to track food items stored within your home.

Using ITTIA DB SQL to manage this data, not only does the touch-screen on the refrigerator

display items that are running out, but it will connect to your cell phone so that you

can make a shopping list wherever you go, due to a strengthened transactional database

storage. But that's not all. As you return home from work, this same refrigerator communicates

with you. It gives you suggestions on what is best to eat or drink, based on the time

of the day, your diet, and your interest. It helps you make smarter decisions, and count

your daily caloric intake. It reminds you that you are hosting a game night in two days,

suggesting top-rated recipes, items to buy, and which store to buy them from. At the same

time, this refrigerator sends a message to both you and the manufacturing company, listing

parts that need to be repaired. As a result, we will live a more vibrant society, where

we can use data to effectively plan for the future.

Of course, this is just one idea for harnessing Internet-of-Things technologies. With ITTIA

DB SQL, you have the fundamental capability to store, analyze, and distribute data efficiently

on any platform for any market. Important features like proximal wireless discovery,

conflict detection and resolution, storage encryption, and transaction isolation take

much of the risk and guesswork out of developing robust, connected applications for ordinary

Things. ITTIA DB SQL can even synchronize data with back-end relational database management

systems over the Internet or on a private network, to integrate these devices with existing

infrastructure. Help us make this vision of the future a reality.

We at ITTIA are committed to work with application developers, and openly share our experience

and knowledge as it relates to data management for the Internet of Things. Please contact

us today at www.ittia.com and let us learn about your data management requirements to

find out how we can assist you.