IoT architectures

We design the system as a complete chain, from hardware to cloud.

Whether starting from a blank sheet or from components already selected, a credible IoT architecture coordinates sensors, compute, power budgets, edge, networks and cloud services. It also explains identity, configuration, network loss, updates, observability and operational ownership.

Two engineers design an IoT system by comparing devices, instruments and an architecture displayed on a monitor.

From component to system

Physical and digital decisions start together.

Sensors, compute, connectivity, cloud and operational interfaces are assessed within one decision process, with shared constraints and acceptance criteria.

  1. 01Hardware
  2. 02Architecture
  3. 03Acceptance

System blueprint

Six layers, one end-to-end behaviour.

Each layer has explicit ownership, interfaces and degraded conditions. Architecture makes them converge before dependencies become expensive.

ARCHITECTURE MAP / 01—06Explicit boundaries
01

ASSET

  • Signals
  • Sensors
  • Power
02

DEVICE

  • Compute
  • Firmware
  • Identity
03

EDGE

  • Gateway
  • Buffer
  • Rules
04

NETWORK

  • Protocol
  • QoS
  • Offline
05

CLOUD

  • Ingestion
  • Data
  • APIs
06

OPERATIONS

  • Dashboards
  • OTA
  • Support

PRINCIPLES / 01–06

Design principles

01

Explicit contracts

Schema, units, timestamps, quality, versions and compatibility are part of the interface.

02

Controlled degradation

Buffers, retries, deduplication and store-and-forward are designed before the first outage.

03

End-to-end identity

Devices, gateways, users and services have separate identities, roles and credentials.

04

Operational observability

State, logs, metrics and tracing must help system operators, not only developers.

05

Governed evolution

Provisioning, configuration, firmware and APIs require versioning, rollout and rollback.

06

Considered portability

We avoid accidental lock-in without rejecting managed services that reduce risk.

DECISION RECORD

Decisions we make explicit

  1. 01Assets, sensors, compute and power budgets
  2. 02Data rate and volume
  3. 03Normal and degraded connectivity
  4. 04Edge and cloud boundaries
  5. 05Identity and trust model
  6. 06Data retention and access
  7. 07Field updates and support
  8. 08End-to-end acceptance criteria

DELIVERABLES

What the architecture phase produces

The artefacts must guide development, suppliers and acceptance, rather than remain isolated diagrams.

01 / SYSTEM

System blueprint

Context, deployment and flows connecting assets, devices, edge, cloud and operations.

02 / INTERFACES

Contracts and interfaces

Protocols, data schemas, units, versions, identity and ownership across components.

03 / RESILIENCE

Failure modes and security

Offline behaviour, retries, recovery, threat model, updates and rollback.

04 / ACCEPTANCE

Acceptance plan

End-to-end scenarios, expected evidence and measurable acceptance criteria.

Projects

Architectures become credible when they meet the field.

The Projects section shows how devices, connectivity, cloud and operational interfaces are verified in their respective contexts.

Explore projects and applications

A system to define?

Make decisions explicit before complexity is distributed.

We can design the architecture from the ground up or realign existing components and suppliers around verifiable interfaces and criteria.

Discuss the architecture