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usage of precious power energy, the much-feared environmental
degradation and global warming can be significantly minimized to
achieve environmental sustainability.
Smart metering solutions (this is an IoT/M2M solution connect-
ing every energy-gobbling device in a network with the centralized
smart meter) are very much accepted and used in advanced coun-
tries to accurately understand the usage. In other words, smart elec-
tricity meters help energy consumers to decode how energy savings
can be achieved based on the readings and alerts being rendered by
smart meters. e advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is an
active and ongoing research area to generate solutions for energy
efficiency.
5.8.4 Smart Healthcare
Healthcare will be a huge industry in the years ahead. ere are a
number of specific devices for measuring and managing a number
of human health parameters. IoT solutions are capable of reminding
patients and their families as well as their doctors in case of any emer-
gency arising out of any abnormality in any of the health readings.
5.8.5 Smart Home Security
Sophisticated home networking, integration, automation, security,
and control mechanisms are hitting the market very frequently. M2M
solutions for home security are merging with energy management to
provide remote alarm controls as well as remote HVAC controls for
homes and businesses through mobile phones.
5.8.6 Smart Cargo Handling
IoT solutions are being manufactured into a variety of storage/handling
containers including cargo containers, money and document bags,
and nuclear waste drums. Information on the real-time location of the
container, whether it has been opened or closed, and how containers
are being handled through motion sensors can be easily obtained to
prevent any possible security and theft risks and to increase recovery
capability of stolen or lost material.
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5.8.7 Smart Traffic Management
M2M solutions are able to provide real-time road traffic information
to drivers via automobile GPS devices to enable them to consider bet-
ter alternatives.
5.8.8 Smart Inventory and Replenishment Management
IoT solutions can be integrated into the sensors measuring the amount
of bulk product in a storage bin. is information can be made avail-
able to both the supplier and the user so proactive reorders can be
initiated when inventories reach a predetermined level. is is very
beneficial for manufacturing processes that do not consume a consis-
tent and predictable amount of product or the transport time of the
bulk product results in product stock-out.
5.8.9 Smart Cash Payment
M2M/IoT solutions allow mobile credit/debit card readers to provide
secure and encrypted data transmissions at the transaction and ticket-
ing counters in hyper malls, hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, and
so on. Retailing becomes a smooth process without the need to stand
on a queue for cash payment. e seamless connectivity between tags,
tag readers, cash cards, merchant banks, retailers, and so on goes a
long way toward considerably enhancing the customer experience.
5.8.10 Smart Tracking
IoT/M2M solutions allow parents to track their children very precisely
from their workplaces and other locations and empower caregivers to
remotely track those with disabilities as well as independently living,
disease-stricken, debilitated, and bed-ridden people. Managers can
keep track of employees performing their duties in rough and tough
places. In particular, those who are, for example, working in oil wells,
fighting forest fire, helping out in disaster-struck places, battling in
war zones, or hiking in mountains will benefit immensely through
such technological innovations.
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e items inside vending machines can connect with their suppliers
and provide all the relevant information about the number of containers
and bottles inside and how many more are needed to fill up the vending
machine, which is a sharp improvement over the current practice.
5.8.11 Smart Displays
All kinds of machines such as ATMs, vending machines, television
sets, security video cameras, sign posts, dash boards, and so on can be
intertwined at strategic locations. With such close integration through
a competent M2M solution, customized video as well as static images
can be dispatched to these machines to flash time-sensitive and pre-
ferred details and displays. A hungry person could order his pizza on
his mobile phone yet see the pizza details and pictures on the larger
screen of any one of these machines or with connected projectors
showing the images on a white wall to give a clear vision.
5.8.12 Smart Asset Management
Every industry has its own set of specific assets. For example, hospitals
have a a variety of devices both large and small, including a number
of scanning machines, diagnostic equipment, healthcare monitors,
robots, and other instruments. e real challenge lies in their effec-
tive location identification in case of any emergency, upkeep, manage-
ment, monitoring, inventory, security, and so on. ere are several
unique benefits of an IoT/M2M solution in this complicated scenario.
An advanced M2M solution sharply reduces the time consumed by
employees to pinpoint the assets’ exact location, considerably incre-
ments their utilization, and provides the ability to share high-value
assets between departments and facilities. With every asset in a hospi-
tal environment integrated with each other and with the remote Web/
cloud platforms via the M2M product, remote monitoring, repair-
ing, and management are being greatly facilitated. rough the con-
nectivity established with cloud-hosted healthcare applications, every
machine could update and upload its data to the centralized and cyber
applications; a number of activities are thereby fully automated by
avoiding manual intervention, interpretation, and instruction.
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5.8.13 Air Quality
It is well known that nations across the world have set appropriate
mechanisms in place to slow down the threatening climate change.
ere are attempts through a host of ways to cut down greenhouse gas
emissions into our fragile environment, to enforce energy preserva-
tion, and subsequently to decrease heat dissipation so that the global
objective of sustainability can be realized sooner than later. To such an
extent, an urban IoT can provide the means to monitor the quality of
the air in all kinds of crowded areas such as open air stadiums, parks
and playgrounds, and so on. In addition, communication facilities can
be provided to let health applications on joggers’ devices capture and
transmit data to remotely held applications and data sources. In this
way, people can always find the healthiest path for outdoor activities
and can be continuously connected to their preferred personal training
application or trainer. e realization of such a service requires that air
quality and pollution sensors be deployed across the city and the sensor
data have to be made publicly available to citizens.
5.8.14 Noise Monitoring
Noise can be seen as a form of acoustic pollution as much as carbon
monoxide (CO) is for air. An urban IoT can offer a noise-monitoring
service to measure the amount of noise produced at any given hour
in particular areas. Besides building a space–time map of the noise
pollution in the area, this service can also be extended to enforce the
safety of people and public properties by means of sound-detection
algorithms that can recognize, for instance, the noise of glass crashes
or brawls. is service can remarkably improve both the quietness of
the nights in the city and the confidence of public establishment own-
ers. However, the installation of sound detectors or environmental
microphones is bound to face strong opposition, as these sensors and
devices have been portrayed as invasions of privacy.
5.8.15 Traffic Congestion
is is an important service for future cities. An urban IoT has the
innate capability to closely monitor city traffic and if there is any con-
gestion or complication on the roads, it could be immediately captured
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and conveyed to those concerned. At this point of time, camera-based
traffic monitoring systems are performing a yeomen service. However,
minute sensors can do a better job. Next-generation traffic monitor-
ing may be realized by using widely deployed sensors, road infra-
structures, and GPS installed on modern vehicles in synchronization
with acoustic sensors. is information is of great importance for city
authorities to discipline traffic and to send officers where needed and
it helps people to plan in advance the route to reach the office or to
better schedule a shopping trip to the city center.
5.8.16 Smart Parking
is facility is being given based on road sensors and intelligent displays
that direct motorists along the best path for parking in the city. e ben-
efits are many. It helps drivers to find a parking slot quickly; there is a less
CO emission from the car and subdued traffic snarl. e smart parking
service can be directly integrated in the urban IoT infrastructure to get
proper visibility through widespread advertisements. Further, through
short-range communication technologies, it is possible to remotely verify
whether vehicles are getting parked properly and in the right slots allo-
cated for them. Disabled people can get priority too.
Professionals and experts are exploring, experimenting, and expound-
ing an increasing array of value-added business and use cases for a vari-
ety of industry segments to keep the momentum on the IoT/M2M
space intact. ere is another trend fast picking up these days with the
active participation of academicians and industry veterans. Cyber physi-
cal systems (CPSs) are the new powerful entities in this complicated
landscape. at is, all kinds of physical systems at the ground level
are being empowered with scores of generic as well as specific cyber
applications, services, and data. at is, not only connectivity but also
software-inspired empowerment is being ticked as the next-generation
evolution in the machine space. ere is no doubt that there will be more
IT-automation for all kinds of “dumb” and dormant systems.
5.9 Cyber Physical System for Smart City Needs
Cyber physical systems (CPSs) [8] use wireless communication,
sensing, perception and actuation technologies, and distributed
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