IoT Definitions

Since its emergence, the concept of Internet of Things (IoT) has constantly evolved over time, responding to the ever-changing technological environment it operates in. This not necessarily simultaneous development of the term across regions resulted in numerous attempts to define IoT. Although different, most IoT definitions can be categorized through certain characteristics across three dimensions (things dimension, Internet dimension, capability, or smartness dimension). Additionally, due to the emergence of related terms that are similar in nature to the Internet of Things concept, defining its core meaning is even trickier. The goal of this liminary chapter is to provide the reader with a synthetic view on the concept of the Internet of Things, including the key definitions and acronyms attached to it. There are various recurring terms used by this IoT Handbook whose definitions are provided in this chapter on a best effort basis to ease the reader.