The Internet of Things (IoT) is the "Internet of Things", which is an extension and expansion of the Internet. It combines various information sensing devices with the network to form a huge network, realizing the interconnection of people, computers and things at any time and anywhere.

The Internet of Things is an important component of the new generation of information technology, also known as pan interconnection in the IT industry, which means that things are connected and everything is interconnected. Therefore, "the Internet of Things is the Internet connected by things". This has two meanings: first, the core and foundation of the Internet of Things is still the Internet, which is an extension and expanded network on the basis of the Internet; Secondly, its user end extends and expands to any item to item exchange and communication. Therefore, the definition of the Internet of Things is a network that connects any item to the Internet for information exchange and communication according to the agreed protocol through radio frequency identification, infrared sensors, global positioning system, laser scanners and other information sensing devices to achieve intelligent identification, positioning, tracking, monitoring and management of items.

The basic characteristics of the Internet of Things, from the perspective of communication objects and processes, are that information exchange between objects and between people and objects is the core of the Internet of Things. The basic characteristics of the Internet of Things can be summarized as overall perception, reliable transmission, and intelligent processing.

Overall perception - can use perception devices such as radio frequency identification, QR codes, and smart sensors to perceive and obtain various information about objects.

Reliable transmission - through the integration of Internet and wireless network, the information of objects can be transmitted in real time and accurately for information exchange and sharing.

Intelligent processing - using various intelligent technologies to analyze and process perceived and transmitted data and information, achieving intelligent monitoring and control. Based on the above characteristics of the Internet of Things and the perspective of information science, the functions of the Internet of Things in processing information can be summarized around the process of information flow:

(1) The function of obtaining information. Mainly refers to the perception and recognition of information, where information perception refers to the perception and sensitivity of the attribute state and its changing ways of things; The recognition of information refers to the ability to represent the perceived state of things in a certain way. (2) The function of transmitting information. The main task is to send, transmit, and receive information, and finally transmit the obtained state information and its changes from one point in time (or space) to another. This is commonly known as the communication process.

(3) The function of processing information. It refers to the process of processing information, using existing or perceived information to generate new information, which is actually the process of making decisions. (4) The function of applying effective information. The process by which information ultimately becomes useful has many forms of expression, and the most important one is to always keep the object in a pre designed state by adjusting the state and transformation of the object.