The emergence of Fixed Internet, connecting every computer, was surpassed by today’s Mobile Internet with the exponential explosion of smartphones, tablets, and netbooks. However, a new era is coming, dwarfing both Internet revolutions, as the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) is arriving. Everyday objects being connected to one large network, enabling communication between each other, is not a futuristic movie scene anymore. Objects or ”things” become context aware and can exchange data, information and communicate with each other. However, the technologies facilitating such ubiquitous connectivity only recently started to take shape.

A wireless communication stack is required in order to connect things to the Internet. A standardized approach, meeting the criteria of power-efficiency, reliability, and Internet connectivity, which industrial applications early adopted, has become a defacto standard thereby bootstrapping early IoT developments with already thousands of wireless nodes deployed. This kind of stack key embodies the power-efficient IEEE 802.15.4-2006 PHY layer, the power saving and reliable IEEE 802.15.4e MAC layer, the IETF 6LoWPAN adaptation layer enabling universal Internet connectivity, the IETF ROLL routing protocol enabling availability, and finally the IETF CoAP enabling seamless transport and support of Internet applications.