How Internet of Things (IoT) communication works
How Internet of Things (IoT) communication works
1. Introduction
The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the invisible engines of sustainability transformation. Across corporate sectors — from manufacturing and logistics to energy, construction, and facilities management — networks of sensors and connected devices are quietly generating real-time insight into resource use, emissions, and performance. Understanding how these devices communicate is therefore fundamental to any sustainability strategy that relies on digital measurement and automation.
At its core, IoT communication describes how data travels from a physical sensor to a digital system — through wires, radio waves, gateways, and cloud platforms. This chain of interaction allows businesses to track, optimize, and verify environmental and operational outcomes. In sustainability reporting, such data underpins frameworks like the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the GHG Protocol, and emerging standards such as ISO 14091 on climate risk assessment.
In this article, you will learn:
✅ What the key wired and wireless communication protocols are and how they differ.
✅ How messaging and application protocols (like MQTT and CoAP) move data through networks.
✅ How gateways and cloud layers integrate diverse devices into one coherent system.
✅ Why these technical layers matter for sustainability data.
✅ How emerging standards such as Thread and Matter may simplify interoperability in future smart systems.
By the end, you’ll understand not just the technical chain behind IoT communication, but how it enables reliable, verifiable, and efficient data flows that support corporate sustainability and ESG objectives.
This article focuses on the communication part of IoT, if you want to learn more about IoT in general, I advice you to visit this webpage:
2. The starting point: sensors and local communication
Every IoT ecosystem begins with sensors — devices that measure temperature, humidity, energy consumption, vibration, or other physical properties. But sensors themselves are only the eyes and ears of a system. For their observations to be useful, they must communicate with a processor that can read, interpret, and share the data.
Inside a machine or device, this usually happens through short wired connections using simple protocols:
I²C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) — a two-wire system where one wire carries timing and one carries data. A master controller (for instance, a small embedded computer) asks sensors for readings in sequence. It is ideal for short, on-board communication.
SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) — a four-wire connection offering faster speeds. One wire provides timing, one sends data, one receives data, and one selects which component is active. SPI is used when sensors or memory modules need to exchange information quickly.
UART/RS-232 (Serial Port) — a point-to-point link sending bits one after another. It connects only two devices, often used for debugging or configuration in IoT prototypes.
These internal protocols are the first mile of communication. They operate over centimeters or meters inside machines but form the foundation for more complex networks that span buildings, factories, or cities.
3. Expanding the network: industrial and field protocols
In larger environments such as factories, logistics hubs, or energy systems, sensors and machines are spread out. Here, stronger communication methods are needed — ones that can handle noise, distance, and industrial conditions.
